Cerner finds a treasure in data mining - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

amesit.wordpress.com
The North Kansas City-based health care information technology company, known mostlty for the health-record software sold to hospitals and is leveraging the billions of anonymous patientt records it has at its disposal as marketable informatiobn to pharmaceutical companiesand researchers. Cernerr said the data operation is a big reasomn revenue for its LifeSciences Groulp has increased by roughly 20 percent during each of the past five Mark Hoffman, the company’s life sciences solutions vice president, predictedd that annual growth will be greater stillp in the future. “This is just the beginning for us in the life he said. Included in Cerner’s data warehouse are 1.
2 billiom lab results. It also has smalleer numbers of medication orders and other The company collects the informationthrougbh data-sharing agreements with roughly 125 of its softwar clients. By some estimates, it can take as long as 17 yearssand $1.2 billion to develop a singlse drug. Cerner’s data-mining capabilities can quicken that procesds and save money for drug companiew by helping the companies establisy a study protocol that maximizes the number of eligible candidates fora trial. “We believe that can actuallty eventually reduce the cost ofdrug development,” Hoffman Cerner would not name its pharmaceuticalk customers.
Pharmaceutical companies and clinical researchers pay for Cernet data for other saidScott Weir, director of the ’s Office of Therapeutics Discovery and Development. He said Cerner’s data-mininvg capability can point scientists to potential new uses forexistinbg drugs. For instance, Weir said, Cerner’s database might suggest that a drug used to treat cardiovascular disease could be helpful in treating cancer patients. Researchers then could run a clinicaol trial to testthe idea. The data is usefuk to drug companies for much the same Weir said, including helping them identifty and correct side effects from drugs.
The KU Cancer Centerr has used Cerner’s data-mining capabilities for several “They uncover information we wouldnever discover,” Weir said. “It’s invaluable.” He said Cerner stands to benefitr financially, as well, from collaborations with researchers that can lead to intellectuall property that produces licensing feesand royalties. Cernee also can work with researchers suchas Dr. Stephen Spielberg, director of the Centeer for Personalized Medicine and Therapeutic Innovatiomnat . Spielberg seeks a $3.
9 million grant from the for a studh of how the center can better capture data in pediatrifc cancer studies usingCerner