1. Brief Report: Databases in the Asia-Pacific Region: The Potential for a Distributed Network Approach.
- Author
-
Lai EC, Man KK, Chaiyakunapruk N, Cheng CL, Chien HC, Chui CS, Dilokthornsakul P, Hardy NC, Hsieh CY, Hsu CY, Kubota K, Lin TC, Liu Y, Park BJ, Pratt N, Roughead EE, Shin JY, Watcharathanakij S, Wen J, Wong IC, Yang YH, Zhang Y, and Setoguchi S
- Subjects
- China, Clinical Coding, Computer Communication Networks, Feasibility Studies, Health Expenditures, Hong Kong, Humans, Japan, Neoplasms, Pharmacoepidemiology, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Stroke, Taiwan, Thailand, Databases, Factual, Electronic Health Records, Information Dissemination methods, Insurance, Health, Registries
- Abstract
Background: This study describes the availability and characteristics of databases in Asian-Pacific countries and assesses the feasibility of a distributed network approach in the region., Methods: A web-based survey was conducted among investigators using healthcare databases in the Asia-Pacific countries. Potential survey participants were identified through the Asian Pharmacoepidemiology Network., Results: Investigators from a total of 11 databases participated in the survey. Database sources included four nationwide claims databases from Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan; two nationwide electronic health records from Hong Kong and Singapore; a regional electronic health record from western China; two electronic health records from Thailand; and cancer and stroke registries from Taiwan., Conclusions: We identified 11 databases with capabilities for distributed network approaches. Many country-specific coding systems and terminologies have been already converted to international coding systems. The harmonization of health expenditure data is a major obstacle for future investigations attempting to evaluate issues related to medical costs.
- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF