As part of its research into Alzheimer’s disease The University of Rochester Medical Center is piloting the use of electronic medical records. The University is helping to create an electronic data network that could enhance medical research across the state.
The Partnership to Advance Clinical Electronic Research, or PACER, has developed several data systems to make it easier for researchers to pinpoint eligible candidates for clinical trials.
The University of Rochester is one of the first research organizations to use the PACER systems, and is piloting them as part of the first large-scale human trial of an experimental drug that could potentially slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
One of the new platforms is called MyHealth and it works a lot like facebook for the medical community.
It’s a private social network that facilitates real-time research between professionals with the aim of improving patient health, treatment and outcomes.
“The idea with the social network is that you’re creating a platform that allows for collaboration, the sharing of information, it allows for a problem to be solved collectively”.
Dr. John Murphy is the Vice President of clinical informatics at research company, Quintiles and says there’s potential for researchers to use MyHealth and other PACER cloud platforms to connect with people in their field at the state and, further down the road, the national level.
