Title: The use of routinely collected clinical data for large-scale pharmacogenetic studies

Authors: James Mackay, Ailsa Taylor

Addresses: The Doctors Organisation for Clinical Studies, 48 Portland Place, London, W1B 1NG, UK; Biology Department, University College London, Wolfson House, 4 Stephenson Way, London, NW1 2HE, UK. ' The Doctors Organisation for Clinical Studies, 48 Portland Place, London, W1B 1NG, UK

Abstract: In 1995, the Audit Commission in the UK published a report on the standard of hospital records within the National Health Service. This report persuaded the Department of Health that a radical solution was needed to improve the standard recording of routine clinical care. One of the obvious rewards emanating from this improved standard would be the ability to learn new clinical knowledge from an analysis of the data collected. The UK government has made a huge investment in developing IT within the National Health Service, with the Medical Research Council also investing in a research programme in e-health and e-science. Electronic medical records hold promise for large-scale pharmacogenetic studies of drug effectiveness and safety for important diseases, including cancer. Many of the ingredients required to start the process of learning new knowledge from routinely collected clinical data are already in place. However, the vast majority of clinicians and other health professionals are unaware that we could make considerable progress on pilot work within the next few years, rather than waiting for decades.

Keywords: clinical data collection; consent; confidentiality; e-prescribing; personalised medicine; pharmacogenetics; routine; hospital records; National Health Service; UK; United Kingdom; healthcare management; healthcare technology; electronic records; medical records; drug effectiveness; drug safety; information technology; e-health; electronic healthcare; genetics.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHTM.2007.013519

International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management, 2007 Vol.8 No.5, pp.492 - 502

Published online: 03 May 2007 *

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