Opportunity beckons for electronic medical record data

ABSTRACT

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) have embraced the learning health system (LHS) as a model for improving the health of Canadians to the extent that it has made the LHS a fundamental component of the CIHR's Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) SUPPORT Unit Phase II call for proposals. The call should have closed in May 2020 but has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Only previously funded units are eligible to apply for renewal of their funding. The SPOR SUPPORT units will need to build or maintain "a data platform that incrementally adds relevant datasets within their jurisdiction and equitably provides that data to researchers, policy makers and other SPOR stakeholders, upon request and in a timely manner, in support of patient-oriented research." The potential of electronic medical record (EMR) data as a tool for improving patient care has been widely recognized at the practice-patient interface (the micro level), where initiatives such as the College of Family Physicians of Canada's Practice Improvement Initiative support family physicians in implementing quality improvement.