How EHRs Facilitate Clinical Research
Naomi Fujimoto
By leveraging EHR data, the industry can transform how it conducts clinical research and delivers health care in the future.
Though the comprehensiveness of electronic health records varies globally, EHRs contain a wealth of longitudinal real-world data-including demographics, clinical data, pharmacy and billing claims, and other patient information-to create a multifaceted picture of health, care-seeking behaviors and pharmaceutical consumption across broad populations. By leveraging EHR data, the industry can transform how it conducts clinical research and delivers health care in the future.
Identify qualified patients for clinical research
Prescreening individuals according to specific demographic and medical data can expedite the patient recruitment process in clinical trials.
Optimize patient safety
Changing the current mindset to advance health care requires a bridge from EHR data into clinical trials, according to
Streamline reporting and data capture
In “
Bridge clinical research and health care
The data in electronic health records overlaps with the types of data collected for clinical research. This provides opportunities for data sharing and reuse without reentry or transcription, thus supporting open science and learning health systems. Building better bridges between research and health care offers limitless possibilities for facilitating research and improving health care delivery.
Data harmonization and next steps
To unlock, access, and leverage the multitude of data from EHRs requires harmonization of data standards and data models. TransCelerate’s Clinical Data Standards Initiative, in collaboration with the standards development organization, CDISC, as well as C-Path, NCI-EVS and FDA as part of CFAST, aims to develop industrywide data standards to support the exchange and submission of clinical research data. The implementation of these standards will enable data aggregation, cross-study analysis and end-to-end data flow, as well as facilitate analysis from multiple disparate data sources. Consistent data collection in clinical trials will ultimately lead to more efficient research with higher-quality data.
Regulatory guidance on using EHR and applying artificial intelligence to enhance patient recruitment are also key issues to explore to advance the state of clinical research. Through collaboration between multiple stakeholders-including pharma, biotech, CROs, health care organizations, advocacy groups, and regulatory agencies-we can ultimately develop solutions to the industry’s most critical questions.
Joan Chambers, Senior Strategic Advisor; Naomi Fujimoto, Senior Copywriter, both with SCORR Marketing and
Newsletter
Stay current in clinical research with Applied Clinical Trials, providing expert insights, regulatory updates, and practical strategies for successful clinical trial design and execution.
Related Articles
- Everything to Know About FDA’s Push Towards Radical Transparency in 2025
September 17th 2025
- IQVIA and Veeva Join Forces to Improve Efficiency and Patient Outcomes
September 17th 2025
- Managing Background Therapies in the NIMBLE Phase III Trial
September 17th 2025
- Generative AI Transforms Clinical Study Report Development
September 16th 2025