If you are a health organization you probably have or thinking of having a clinical data warehouse. A Clinical Data Warehouse (CDW), sometimes called Clinical Data Repository (CDR), is a database that consolidates data from a variety of clinical sources to form a unified view of a the data for various purposes. Typical data types which are often found within a CDW include: clinical laboratory test results, vital signs, patient demographics, administered meds, hospital admissions, ICD-9 codes and more. Developing and sustaining an effective CDW operations unit is a substantial effort and long-term commitment. The main challenge in designing a CDW is defining its scope and the use cases it should support. In theory a CDW can serve as a basis for reporting, studying and planning. The use case that is often mentioned in relate to CDW is supporting clinical trials. This would allow for researchers to have all the information from a study in one place as well as let other researchers benefit
By Eran David