TPP to launch ResearchOne

TPP has launched a healthcare research database that could hold up to 20m patient records.

ResearchOne was launched at TPP’s recent National User Group conference in London.

Clinical director Dr John Parry told eHealth Insider the aim was to use anonymised patient records for research to improve patient care.

He claimed that ResearchOne could become the largest GP research database in the world, holding a range of clinical data such as diagnoses, medication, vaccinations and lab results.

Practices will be given the option to opt their records into ResearchOne and access will be provided to researchers who have national research ethics committee approval, on a not-for-profit basis.

Individual patients will be able to opt out. Records from community and acute users will also be included with their consent, providing a more powerful linked dataset, Dr Parry explained.

The database will be used to drive product development, such as risk stratification tools that are embedded in SystmOne. Changes to the software can then be monitored to gauge their effectiveness, he added.

Dr Parry said the idea differed from the GP Extraction Service, which does not store any data and will respond to specific requests.

ResearchOne will be centrally-hosted in a secure data centre and accredited to NHS standards.

The database is now going through the formal information governance process necessary for gaining ethical approval for launch.