Cerner finds a treasure in data mining - Denver Business Journal:

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The North Kansas City-based health care information technology company, knownb mostly for the health-record softwarde sold to hospitals and is leveraging the billions of anonymouzs patient records it has at its disposa as marketable information to pharmaceutical companiewand researchers. Cerner said the data operation is a big reason revenue for its LifeScienceds Group has increased by roughly 20 percent durinf each of the pastfive years. Mark Hoffman, the company’sd life sciences solutions vice predicted that annual growth will be greater still inthe future. “This is just the beginninfg for us in thelife sciences,” he Included in Cerner’s data warehouse are 1.
2 billion lab results. It also has smallert numbers of medication ordersd andother data. The companyh collects the informationthrough data-sharinh agreements with roughly 125 of its softwarr clients. By some estimates, it can take as long as 17 yearand $1.2 billion to develop a single Cerner’s data-mining capabilities can quicken that process and save money for drug companiex by helping the companies establishn a study protocol that maximizes the number of eligible candidates for a “We believe that can actuallyg eventually reduce the cost of drug development,” Hoffmanj said. Cerner would not name its pharmaceutical customers.
Pharmaceutical companiez and clinical researchers pay for Cerner data forothert reasons, said Scott Weir, director of the ’s Office of Therapeuticsd Discovery and Development. He said Cerner’ss data-mining capability can point scientists to potentialp new uses forexisting drugs. For instance, Weir Cerner’s database might suggest that a drug used to treatf cardiovascular disease could be helpful in treatin gcancer patients. Researchers then could run a clinicap trial to testthe idea. The data is useful to drug companies for much thesame reason, Weir including helping them identifty and correct side effects from drugs.
The KU Cancerd Center has used Cerner’s data-mining capabilities for severap projects. “They uncover information we woulxdnever discover,” Weir said. “It’s He said Cerner stands to benefif financially, as well, from collaborations with researchers that can lead to intellectualo property that produces licensing fees and Cerner also can work with researchers suchas Dr. Stepheh Spielberg, director of the Center for Personalized Medicine and Therapeutic Innovatiojnat . Spielberg seeks a $3.9 milliob grant from the for a study of how the center can betterd capture data in pediatric cance r studies usingCerner software.