UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority (MHRA)

OMOP Common Data Model mapping converts disparate GP notes into rich global research resource

Leveraging the power of clinical data is critical in the constant battle against killer conditions such as cancer, heart disease, stroke and many others.

It provides doctors, scientists and pharmaceutical companies around the world with the essential observational research they need to identify causes, and develop vital new drugs and treatments.

So, when the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency embarked on a transformational  project to standardise rich clinical data collected by over 1,600 GP surgeries, it turned to us for expert help and support.

The MHRA – the government agency responsible for licensing the use of medicines and medical equipment – provides more than 70 public and private sector healthcare organisations with secure and regulated access to its vast database of anonymised patient records for the express purpose of advancing medical science by enabling evidence-based research.

They chose to adopt the globally-recognised OMOP Common Data Model in order to represent the vast quantities of GP data using its normalised vocabulary set and structure. Read more…

Deploying our differentiating Symedical terminology and health data quality platform, our experts worked closely with the MHRA, providing the software, tools, expertise and experience needed to achieve its objectives.

As a result, the MHRA’s licensed users now have access to an independently-validated, trusted and highly-accessible database that is supporting their essential, life-saving work around the world.

Daniel Dedman, MHRA Senior Researcher and lead on the OMOP CDM mapping project said: “It was recognised that our GP practice data had high-value potential if converted in line with the OMOP Common Data Model, but the scale of the project was significant and some elements of the mapping were complex.

“If each of the individual data points occupied a single worksheet in Microsoft Excel, it would have been more than 1,000 columns wide and 10 billion rows deep.

“Clinical Architecture was able to help us convert it into standardised, easily-searchable, OMOP-coded information capable of highly-enriching the results of our users’ research projects.

“Due to its standardised and globally-recognised nature the data can also be linked to NHS databases such as Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) and other public and private sector OMOP-aligned databases and disease-specific databases such as cancer registries.

“That supports hospitals’ and doctors’ understanding of conditions, their symptoms and the side-effects of treatments in ways which in turn help them design improved healthcare strategies.

“Medical and scientific research is hugely important and the MHRA has been a valued and trusted supporter of all those engaged in it for 25 years.

“Partnering with Clinical Architecture – acknowledged global experts in clinical data mapping and with the right software, tools and experience – strengthens our reputation for providing validated, independent and trustworthy information.

“It was a pleasure to engage with them on the project and their help and support was hugely valued.”

Clinical Architecture UK Managing Director Andrew Frangleton said: “It was hugely gratifying to have been able to support the MHRA in providing its users with access to such high-value data.

“The OMOP Common Data Model enables the global standardisation of clinical data and the unlocking of its potential to support ground-breaking medical research that benefits everyone.

“The UK has always been at the forefront of scientific and technological advancement and the important work of the MHRA shows that that remains the case.

“We are extremely pleased to be partnered with such a respected and trusted organisation and to have helped them improve the quality of that work.”