MedStar Health, which operates 10 hospitals in the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area, is the first health system to join the Cerner Learning Health Network, a platform designed to enhance clinical research and improve patient care through cross-industry collaboration.
In August 2019, Cerner Corp. announced the creation of the Cerner Learning Health Network to help clinicians more easily and efficiently gain health insights and guide care. Cerner aims to automate data collection from multiple sources, including the EHR, to rapidly give medical researchers access to important information that has the potential to transform patient care.
At that time the health IT vendor also announced it was partnering with the Duke Clinical Research institute to evaluate the use and potential impact of proven therapies for chronic cardiovascular disease. The two organizations aim to deliver clinicians insights on chronic cardiovascular disease, which if not treated properly can lead to heart disease and stroke. The pilot project and study, named the Learning Registry by the DCRI, is using Cerner technology to analyze de-identified patient data from the University of Missouri Health Care and Ascension Seton in partnership with Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin, with the goal of finding the most effective treatment options.
The Cerner network automates de-identified clinical data collection from participating members and pools it together in a database that health systems can access for approved clinical research. These health systems will have opportunities to participate in a variety of research studies, as well as propose their own research ideas. As part of the network, MedStar Health plans to bring trial opportunities to its clinical investigators and other members.
“We are proud to be one of the first health systems in this innovative approach to clinical research,” said Neil Weissman, M.D., president of the MedStar Health Research Institute and chief scientific officer for MedStar Health, in a statement. “Using a network of academic health systems, linked with streamlined electronic data, will transform the efficiency and effectiveness of clinical trials.”
As a member of the network, Columbia, Md.-based MedStar Health has the opportunity to leverage the Cerner electronic health record and HealtheIntent data and insights platform to support research.
All uses of clinical data in the network will be overseen by a governance board so that data are only used for legitimate research purposes. The governance board will include patient representation, leading researchers and an ethicist to review all use cases. As one of the first members of this research network, MedStar Health will be a part of the governance board.
