Cerner finds a treasure in data mining - Tampa Bay Business Journal:

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The North Kansas City-based health care informationtechnology company, known mostly for the health-recorde software sold to hospitals and is leveraging the billionse of anonymous patient records it has at its disposap as marketable information to pharmaceutical companies and researchers. Cerner said the data operatiom is a big reason revenue for its LifeSciencews Group has increased by roughly 20 perceny during each of the pastfive years. Mark the company’s life sciences solutions vice president, predictedd that annual growth will be greater stilkl inthe future. “This is just the beginninh for us in the life he said. Included in Cerner’s data warehouse are 1.
2 billionh lab results. It also has smalletr numbers of medication orders andothetr data. The company collects the informatiojthrough data-sharing agreements with roughly 125 of its software By some estimates, it can take as long as 17 yearzs and $1.2 billion to develop a singl drug. Cerner’s data-mining capabilities can quicken that process and save money for drug companie s by helping the companies establis h a study protocol that maximizes the number of eligibl candidates fora trial. “We believe that can actually eventually reduce the cost ofdrug development,” Hoffma n said.
Cerner would not name its pharmaceutical Pharmaceutical companies and clinical researchers pay for Cerner data for other saidScott Weir, director of the ’zs Office of Therapeutics Discovery and He said Cerner’s data-mining capability can point scientists to potential new uses for existingt drugs. For instance, Weir said, Cerner’ds database might suggest that a drug used to trear cardiovascular disease could be helpful in treatingvcancer patients. Researchers then could run a clinical trial to test the The data is useful to drug companieds for much the same Weir said, including helping them identify and correct side effectzs from drugs.
The KU Cancer Center has used Cerner’s data-miningy capabilities for several projects. “They uncover information we wouldneverr discover,” Weir said. “It’s invaluable.” He said Cerneer stands to benefit financially, as from collaborations with researchers that can lead to intellectual propertyg that produces licensing fees and Cerner also can work with researcheras suchas Dr. Stephen director of the Center for Personalized Medicine and Therapeutifc Innovationat . Spielbert seeks a $3.9 million grant from the for a study of how the center can better capture data in pediatric cancer studies usingfCerner software.