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

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The North Kansas City-based health care information technologuy company, known mostly for the health-record software sold to hospitalasand clinics, is leveraging the billionx of anonymous patient records it has at its disposal as marketable information to pharmaceutical companies and researchers. Cerner said the data operatioj is a big reason revenuw for its LifeSciences Group has increasedf by roughly 20 percentg during each of the past five Mark Hoffman, the company’s life sciences solutiond vice president, predicted that annual growth will be greater stillk in the future. “This is just the beginninf for us in thelife sciences,” he said.
Include d in Cerner’s data warehousw are 1.2 billion lab results. It also has smallef numbers of medication orders andother data. The company collects the informationthrougyh data-sharing agreements with roughlyu 125 of its software clients. By some estimates, it can take as long as 17 yearasand $1.2 billion to develop a single Cerner’s data-mining capabilities can quickem that process and save money for drug companiexs by helping the companies establish a study protocol that maximizes the numbet of eligible candidates for a “We believe that can actually eventually reduce the cost of drug Hoffman said.
Cerner would not name its pharmaceutical Pharmaceutical companies and clinical researchers pay for Cerne r data forother reasons, said Scott director of the ’s Office of Therapeutics Discover y and Development. He said Cerner’zs data-mining capability can point scientists to potentia new uses forexisting drugs. For Weir said, Cerner’s database might suggest that a drug used to treatr cardiovascular disease could be helpful in treating cancer Researchers then could run a clinicalk trial to testthe idea. The data is usefukl to drug companies for much the same Weir said, including helping them identify and correct side effectas from drugs.
The KU Cancer Center has used Cerner’a data-mining capabilities for several projects. “They uncover informatiom we wouldnever discover,” Weir said. “It’s He said Cerner stands to benefit financially, as well, from collaborationsa with researchers that can lead to intellectual property that produces licensing fees and Cerner also can work with researchers suchas Dr. Stephehn Spielberg, director of the Center for Personalized Medicine and Therapeutif Innovationat . Spielberf seeks a $3.9 million grant from the for a study of how the center can better capture data in pediatric cancer studies usingCerner software.