Expediting Clinical Study Opportunities Worldwide
Convergence CT Deploys Advanced Clinical Data Warehouse at Advocate Health Care
Convergence CTBrad Mossman, 808-694-3552 or 888-222-0024
Illinois based Advocate Health Care, one of the nation’s top health systems, has successfully completed implementation of its Clinical Information System, a consolidated information source that brings together patient-linked longitudinal data from diverse hospital systems. Utilizing Convergence CT’s (CCT) Clinical Data Warehouse (CDW) technology and services, working with Advocate’s subject matter experts, data is converged into a single, easily accessible resource for clinical research, data reporting and operational studies. This affords Advocate’s medical and quality staff the ability to perform detailed, “deep” queries necessary to satisfy complex protocols without requiring additional Information Technology resources or impacting operational database systems.
“We feel it’s our responsibility to utilize health care dollars in a socially responsible and financially sustainable manner,” said Lee Sacks, MD, executive vice president and chief medical officer. “Through our focus on prevention, optimal treatment of diseases and care coordination across the continuum, we are confident our efforts will continue to create value and reduce avoidable costs.”
Encompassing details on over one million annual in-patient visits spanning Advocate’s organization, which includes 10 adult hospitals, 2 integrated children’s hospitals, and more than 250 sites of care, the growing CDW warehouse includes electronic medical records, patient demographics, diagnoses, laboratory test schedules and results, operating room statistics, and details of prescribed medications.
After consolidation in the CDW, data can be summarized for a wealth of reporting requirements, becoming the basis for detailed queries and statistical analysis using a number of commercial analysis applications including SPSS, Cognos, MS Excel, and Convergence CT’s own products.
“Clinical [data] integration is really leading us down the path of evolving into a highly reliable organization that develops the right care model to get the best possible outcomes,” said Michael McKenna, MD, vice president of medical management at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital.
The term “medical research” frequently evokes images of scientists seeking a cure for cancer in a laboratory or patients participating in clinical trials out of their doctor’s offices; a partial picture, at best. “That kind of research is necessary, but not sufficient,” says Advocate’s vice-president of research, W. Thomas Summerfelt, Ph.D., one of the visionaries driving the project. “Yes, we need to come up with new treatments, but we can arguably save even more lives by improving the delivery of care that most physicians already provide and most patients already receive.”
Lambert Onuma, chief executive officer at CCT adds, “From an analytics perspective, real improvements in patient care, benchmark performance and efficiency will only stem from the use of evidence-based medicine. CCT’s CDW solution and analytics delivers this type of critical information.”
Advocate Health Care, named among the nation’s top health systems, is the largest health system in Illinois and one of the largest care providers in the Midwest. Advocate operates more than 250 sites of care, including 10 acute care hospitals, two integrated children’s hospitals, five Level I and two Level II trauma centers, one of the area’s largest home health care companies and one of the region’s largest medical groups. Advocate Health Care trains more primary care physicians and residents at its four teaching hospitals than any other health system in the state. As a not-for-profit, mission-based health system affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the United Church of Christ, Advocate contributed $571 million in charitable care and services to communities across Chicagoland and Central Illinois in 2011.
Based in Honolulu, Hawaii, Convergence CT develops and markets highly secure patient data warehouse products, query tools, and patient data research analytics for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and healthcare industries. Emphasizing the ‘convergence’ of rich clinical data with advanced information technology and analysis, Convergence CT offers a fresh and innovative approach to accelerating medical research, clinical study development, and departmental analysis. These solutions significantly improve overall efficiencies for healthcare data management and interpretation, outcomes and disease management, clinical trial planning and recruitment processes, across global markets.
For more information, contact Convergence CT at 808-536-3040 or toll-free at 888-222-0024. Visit our website at