Cerner finds a treasure in data mining - Boston Business Journal:

Air Purifiers Newport Newsd
The North Kansas City-based health care information technology known mostly forthe health-record softwarr sold to hospitals and clinics, is leveraging the billionsz of anonymous patient records it has at its disposalo as marketable information to pharmaceutical companiez and researchers. Cerner said the data operatiom is a big reason revenue for its LifeSciences Grouop has increased by roughly 20 percent during each of the past five Mark Hoffman, the company’s life sciencews solutions vice president, predicted that annual growth will be greate still in the future. “This is just the beginning for us in the life he said. Included in Cerner’s data warehouse are 1.
2 billionm lab results. It also has smaller numbere of medication orders andotherr data. The company collects the informationthrougjh data-sharing agreements with roughly 125 of its software By some estimates, it can take as long as 17 yearss and $1.2 billion to develop a single Cerner’s data-mining capabilities can quicken that process and save moneyt for drug companies by helping the companies establish a study protocol that maximizes the number of eligible candidateds for a trial. “We believe that can actuallhy eventually reduce the cost ofdrug development,” Hoffman Cerner would not name its pharmaceuticapl customers.
Pharmaceutical companies and clinical researchers pay for Cernerr data forother reasons, said Scoty Weir, director of the ’s Office of Therapeuticsx Discovery and Development. He said Cerner’s data-mining capabilitu can point scientists to potentialo new uses for existing For instance, Weir Cerner’s database might suggest that a drug used to treag cardiovascular disease could be helpful in treatinfg cancer patients. Researchers then could run a clinicakl trial to test the The data is useful to drug companiese for much thesame reason, Weir said, including helpin g them identify and correct side effects from drugs.
The KU Cancer Center has used Cerner’ s data-mining capabilities for several projects. “They uncover information we woulrdnever discover,” Weir said. “It’s He said Cerner stands to benefit as well, from collaborations with researchers that can lead to intellectual propert that produces licensing fees and Cerner also can work with researcherws such as Dr. Stephenm Spielberg, director of the Center for Personalizedd Medicine and Therapeutic Innovationat . Spielberg seeks a $3.9 milliohn grant from the for a studyg of how the cented can better capture data in pediatric cance r studies usingCerner software.