Issues Involved in Extracting Data from Maternal and Fetal Electronic Medical Records for Clinical Research in Japan

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Informatics
• Clinical Research Data Management

Background:

• Electronic medical records (EMRs) are crucial secondary data sources in healthcare research.
• Challenges exist in extracting maternal and fetal EMRs from existing storage systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and address issues in the extraction process of maternal and fetal EMRs.
• To improve secondary data utilization in clinical research.

Main Methods:

• Described the EMR data extraction process for pregnant women in a Tokyo university hospital.
• Obtained ethics committee approval from Tokyo Women's Medical University.

Main Results:

• Maternal and fetal EMRs were extracted using two independent applications.
• EMRs were stored in separate, non-networked systems across different hospital wards.
• Some EMR data storage systems were not integrated with the main hospital system.

Conclusions:

• Decentralized EMR data necessitates a unified and comprehensive management strategy.
• Regulatory compliance and efficient data management are essential for secondary EMR use in Japan.