eHealth Initiative Foundation Launches Collaborative Research Effort to Improve D...( Multi-stakeholder initiative will...)

Multi-stakeholder initiative will use health information technology to accelerate the timeliness and effectiveness of drug safety efforts across the U.S.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The non-profit eHealth Initiative Foundation (eHI) announced today the formation of an innovative research program designed to improve drug safety for patients. The eHI Connecting Communities for Drug Safety Collaboration is a public-private sector effort designed to test new approaches and develop replicable tools for assessing both the risks and the benefits of new drug treatments through the use of health information technology.

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Results of the collaborative effort will be placed in the public domain to accelerate the timeliness and effectiveness of drug safety efforts. Using a set of three "use cases" the project will test and evaluate the value and utility of blinded, anonymized, electronic clinical health information to detect and evaluate drug safety signals. Using clinical information -- while protecting patients' privacy -- promises to accelerate the timeliness, accuracy, and effectiveness of methods currently used to monitor drug safety and facilitate healthcare system response.

The Collaboration is coordinated and led by the eHealth Initiative, a non-profit, multi-stakeholder organization whose mission is to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of health care through information and information technology. With guidance from eHI's multi-stakeholder Leadership Council, the collaboration involves three leading healthcare companies -- Pfizer Inc., Johnson & Johnson, and Eli Lilly and Company and two community-based healthcare organizations with advanced stage clinical information systems -- Partners HealthCare System and the Regenstrief Institute.

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