HL7 and NCI collaborate on clinical trial link to EHR

The HL7 group is trying to do UML models for almost anything that has health related data. This new initiative is a hat tip to Big Data and Public Health. The patient, the little guy in the whole operation, might even benefit. Hopefully, there will no longer be a disconnect between the evidence collected through participation in clinical trials, and electronic medical records. That goes as well for Personal Health Records. Both record systems are potentially rich sources of evidence based medical data, if only there were more efficient ways to capture it, without jeopardizing the autonomy and consent of patients. http://www.fiercehealthit.com/story/hl7-and-nci-collaborate-clinical-trial-link-ehrs/2012-02-28

What do predicting wine quality and evidence-based medicine have in common?

The answer is McMaster University and a book by Ian Ayers, called "SuperCrunchers, Why Thinking-by-Numbers Is the New Way to Be Smart" Through regression analysis and crunching the numbers, the quality of wines can be predicted just as well as by expert wine tasters - in advance of the harvest. There is a chapter on how McMaster University medicine developed the science of evidence-based medicine - also by looking at the numbers. This is the dawning of the age of Big Data, as we all should know.