Once we have electronic medical records implemented, what then?

We, as nation, are in the process of investing several billion dollars into the implementation of electronic health records. If all goes well, there will be a lot of individual data buried in these care systems. This begs the question of what utility, if any, this data has for research whether for genomics, comparative effectiveness research, pharmacovigilance, or public health. The NIH is hosting a conference at the end of October (entitled “Widening the Use of Electronic Health Record Data for Research”) to attempt to answer the question. All are interested parties are invited.

Influenza in Massachusetts

aegis.4.27.2009 Originally uploaded by kohane

Time will tell whether this picture is due to a lot of worried individuals with influenza-like symptoms showing up in emergency rooms or an actual uptick in cases. Nonetheless, there is something compelling about observing, live, the distribution of cases of influenza across this state.

An equally compelling global perspective is provided by my colleague John Brownstein.