University of North Carolina Health Care is partnering with IBM to develop the Carolina Data Warehouse for Health aimed at improving treatment research and allowing physicians to provide more personalized care, Healthcare IT News reports (Merrill, Healthcare IT News, 5/27).
The initiative will incorporate data from UNC Health Care's electronic health records, insurance systems, nursing notes and other clinical information.
Research
The project seeks to accelerate research on treatments for diseases such as cancer, cystic fibrosis and diabetes. It also aims to speed up the preparatory research necessary for regulatory approval (McGee, Information Week, 5/27).
Researchers will be able to use the data warehouse to analyze large volumes of treatment data and identify trends.
In addition, a Web-based portal will allow researchers to access:
- Analytics applications;
- Clinical research;
- Business intelligence reports;
- Cohort query selection tools; and
- Diabetes and inpatient data (Healthcare IT News, 5/27).
Patient Care
The project also aims to equip physicians with tools to improve disease management for patients with diabetes and provide more personalized care based on demographics, genetics and risk factors.
Eventually, physicians could use the data warehouse to access research on the best available treatments for diabetic patients with specific medical histories or genetic characteristics (Information Week, 5/27).