Report – How to facilitate the use of healthcare systems data in cardiovascular clinical trials

The use of healthcare systems data could facilitate cheaper and more efficient clinical trials while maintaining the highest standards. We report the BHF Data Science Centre’s findings which highlight barriers to the use of healthcare systems data in cardiovascular (CVD) clinical trials. These include: difficulties discovering what datasets are available and how to access these; navigating the complex bureaucracy, consent, and ethics, and obtaining information or guidance on this; and challenges associated with the costs of accessing data, understanding the costing model, and obtaining transparent and consistent cost estimates. We outline our plans to address the challenges and facilitate the use of healthcare systems data in CVD clinical trials, ultimately increasing the proportion of trials that use such data.