The Electronic Health Record as a Clinical Study Information Hub

The use of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) is spreading rapidly in several countries. The systems currently used, however, are not designed to permit secondary use of collected data. We present a new design for an EHR system that is capable of connecting information from multiple sites for use in clinical studies by means of an accounting information system and a hospital information system (HIS). This EHR system was designed for healthcare facilities in the Kyoto region. This paper describes how the conventional system can be extended into an EHR system that serves as a clinical information hub.