James Farrell: The Power of Linked Electronic Health Records for Understanding Real Patient Journeys
James Farrell, Data Engineer at Our Future Health UK, shared on LinkedIn about a recent article he and his colleagues co-authored, published in BMJ Open, adding:
”Excited to share our new paper in BMJ Open, where we linked hospital admissions, SSNAP stroke audit data, death records, and GP records to get a much fuller picture of stroke events and outcomes across the COVID-19 pandemic.
One of the biggest challenges in stroke research is that no single dataset tells the complete story.
By linking multiple sources, we can see exactly how much is missed when we rely on them in isolation.
Key findings that stood out:
- Linked data dramatically improved stroke case ascertainment and gave us more accurate incidence estimates.
- SSNAP provided rich clinical detail (stroke type and severity) that routine hospital data lacks.
- GP records identified a substantial number of strokes not captured in hospitals, highlighting that stroke is not always an inpatient event.
- We could measure important outcomes rarely seen in routine data, like medication use after stroke and “home-time” (days alive and out of hospital).
This work demonstrates the power of linked electronic health records for understanding real patient journeys.
This was an enjoyable and rewarding project to work on.
Huge thanks to the British Heart Foundation (BHF) Data Science Centre, Health Data Research UK (HDR UK), Stroke Association and all co-authors for their collaboration and expertise.”
Title: Measurement of quality of stroke care with national electronic health records: a prospective cohort study during and after the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: James Farrell, John Nolan, Roger Lambert, Ana Torralbo, Steffen E Petersen, Mevhibe Hocaoglu, Chris Tomlinson, Reecha Sofat, Qi Huang, Evan Kontopantelis, Martin James, Sarah Lessels, Jacqueline A L MacArthur, Angela M Wood, William N Whiteley, Spiros Denaxas
Stay updated on all scientific advances with Hemostasis Today.
-
May 28, 2026, 16:19Michael Makris: I Hope The Bleeding Disorders Community Supports Kedrion Initiative for FV Deficiency
-
May 28, 2026, 16:16Kamalben Prajapati at Vascular Discovery Conference 2026
-
May 28, 2026, 16:11Laura Dormer: Real-World Safety of DOACs vs LMWH in Cancer-Associated VTE Acroos Europe
-
May 28, 2026, 16:08Esau Martinez Ruiz: Proud to be Part of the Faculty at BDFLOW Summit26 in Brussels
-
May 28, 2026, 16:06Francisco Chacon-Lozsan: Why Anticoagulation in the ICU is not One Protocol?
-
May 28, 2026, 16:04When was the Last Time You Had Your Cholesterol Checked? – UNC Health
-
May 28, 2026, 16:03Paul Bolaji: ACTIVATE Study in Ghana Demonstrates Over 400% Increase in Stroke Thrombolysis
-
May 28, 2026, 15:57Lysanne van der Wal – Smit: Improving Care for Women Affected by HG at ICHG 2026
-
May 28, 2026, 15:50Marieke Verweij: Long Term Impact of Pulmonary Embolism in Children and Adolescents