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

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The North Kansas City-based health care information technology known mostly forthe health-record softwarew sold to hospitals and clinics, is leveraging the billionzs of anonymous patient records it has at its disposalo as marketable information to pharmaceutical companie s and researchers. Cerner said the data operation is a big reasohn revenue for its LifeSciences Group has increased by roughlyg 20 percent during each of the past five Mark Hoffman, the company’s life sciences solutions vice president, predictedf that annual growth will be greatetr still in the future.
“This is just the beginningb for us in thelife sciences,” he Included in Cerner’s data warehous e are 1.2 billion lab results. It also has smallerr numbers of medication orders and other The company collects the informationthroughu data-sharing agreements with roughly 125 of its software By some estimates, it can take as long as 17 years and $1.2 billion to develop a singlde drug. Cerner’s data-mining capabilities can quicken that processw and save money for drug companies by helping the companies establisuh a study protocol that maximizesw the number of eligible candidates fora trial.
“Wed believe that can actually eventually reduce the cost of drug Hoffman said. Cerner would not name its pharmaceuticalp customers. Pharmaceutical companies and clinicalo researchers pay for Cerner data forotherr reasons, said Scott Weir, directoer of the ’s Office of Therapeuticzs Discovery and Development. He said Cerner’xs data-mining capability can point scientist to potential new uses for existing For instance, Weir said, Cerner’s database might suggest that a drug used to treatg cardiovascular disease could be helpful in treatinfg cancer patients. Researchers then coulcd run a clinical trial to testthe idea.
The data is usefuol to drug companies for much the same Weir said, including helping them identify and correcf side effects from drugs. The KU Cancer Center has used Cerner’ss data-mining capabilities for several projects. “They uncovetr information we wouldnever discover,” Weir said. “It’s invaluable.” He said Cerner stands to benefiy financially, as well, from collaborationas with researchers that can lead to intellectua property that produces licensing fees and Cerner also can work with researchers suchas Dr. Stephebn Spielberg, director of the Centetr for Personalized Medicine and Therapeutic Innovatiomnat . Spielberg seeksd a $3.
9 million grant from the for a study of how the centefr can better capture data in pediatricf cancer studies usingCerner software.