# Utilization of EHRs for clinical trials: a systematic review

## TL;DR

This paper reviews how electronic health records (EHRs) can improve clinical trials by making recruitment, screening, and data collection more efficient.

## Contribution

The study systematically reviews EHR applications in clinical trials, highlighting their role in improving trial feasibility and efficiency.

## Key findings

- EHR data integration improves clinical trial feasibility and efficiency in recruitment, screening, and data collection.
- EHRs provide comprehensive and accurate data, including demographic, clinical, diagnostic, and therapeutic information.
- Future research should consider the cost-effectiveness of using EHRs in clinical trials.

## Abstract

Clinical trials are of high importance for medical progress. This study conducted a systematic review to identify the applications of EHRs in supporting and enhancing clinical trials.

A systematic search of PubMed was conducted on 12/3/2023 to identify relevant studies on the use of EHRs in clinical trials. Studies were included if they (1) were full-text journal articles, (2) were written in English, (3) examined applications of EHR data to support clinical trial processes (e.g. recruitment, screening, data collection). A standardized form was used by two reviewers to extract data on: study design, EHR-enabled process(es), related outcomes, and limitations.

Following full-text review, 19 studies met the predefined eligibility criteria and were included. Overall, included studies consistently demonstrated that EHR data integration improves clinical trial feasibility and efficiency in recruitment, screening, data collection, and trial design.

According to the results of the present study, the use of Electronic Health Records in conducting clinical trials is very helpful. Therefore, it is better for researchers to use EHR in their studies for easy access to more accurate and comprehensive data. EHRs collects all individual data, including demographic, clinical, diagnostic, and therapeutic data. Moreover, all data is available seamlessly in EHR. In future studies, it is better to consider the cost-effectiveness of using EHR in clinical trials.