Barts Health has introduced a data anonymisation and exportation tool to complement its newly launched Barts Health Data Platform (BHDP), supporting researchers to access anonymised diagnostic scans.
The BHDP, which is hosted in Microsoft’s Azure Cloud, has been designed to offer a dedicated workspace for research projects and the opportunity to integrate AI in the identification of trends or patterns amongst large patient cohorts. It brings together information types across scans, health records and lab results, granting the potential to explore health conditions and treatments in greater depth.
At a launch event held for the platform in April, speakers shared details of projects such as BloodCounts!, which utilises the BHDP to support the early identification of health conditions in pregnant women.
Steven Newhouse, deputy CIO of precision medicine, shared: “We are now able to provide researchers and clinicians with access to health and imaging data at a scale we’ve not offered before. With robust safeguards in place, this development supports more efficient, secure research and marks meaningful progress in advancing medical innovation and understanding of disease.”
The addition of the anonymise and export tool allows imaging data to be transferred securely into a research environment more efficiently, according to the trust, avoiding what has previously been a slow and manual process. It also opens opportunities for the linking of imaging data with other hospital datasets, promoting understanding of the way conditions develop and responses to treatment.
Wider trend: Use of data to support improvements in patient care
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS FT has introduced a tool for EHR data to be transferred to research databases or electronic data capture software for use in clinical trials, in a move the trust hopes will allow researchers to spend “more time on clinical research rather than data entry”. The Archer platform reportedly allows “large volumes of data” to be integrated from EHRs, “transferring several hundred data points per patient, efficiently and securely”. It is also said to have been piloted successfully at University College London Hospitals and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
The Department of Health and Social Care has announced a centralised system for cancer patients, built into the Federated Data Platform, the tool is said to bring cancer patient information together. The Cancer 360 tool collates data points across tests, appointments and treatments, displayed via a dashboard. DHSC highlights how this will help “track a patient’s progress and support personalised treatment plans”.
NHS England has published an ADHD data improvement plan, with a roadmap setting out planned actions to improve data quality and introduce regular reporting. “We know our ADHD service provision has not kept pace with demand and there is a need to improve access, experience and outcomes,” the plan states, outlining the importance of accurate data in helping understand patient experience, enable service improvement, and support work on tackling health inequalities.
The HTN AI and Data Awards celebrated innovative uses of data and AI across four competitive categories in diagnosis, treatment, communication, system efficiency, and more. Read about our winners here.
