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Home > All articles > The Real-World Data (RWD) from the HUS Data Lake Provides Clinicians with Valuable Information about Treatment Outcomes
The Real-World Data (RWD) from the HUS Data Lake Provides Clinicians with Valuable Information about Treatment Outcomes
Hospital data lakes offer clinicians diverse real-world data (RWD) that supports their work. Dr. Heikki Ekroos, Chief Physician of Pulmonary Diseases at Helsinki University Hospital (HUS) Porvoo Hospital, presented real-world evidence (RWE) studies that were based on HUS data lakes data at Medaffcon’s EMMA client event.
The Helsinki University Hospital (HUS)data lake contains a vast amount of healthcare data on the population in the Helsinki-Uusimaa Region. This data lake includes healthcare data of 3.5 million individuals and, among other things, 37 million patient records and 790 million laboratory results.
Dr. Heikki Ekroos, Chief Physician of Pulmonary Diseases at Helsinki University Hospital (HUS) Porvoo Hospital, is involved in studies that investigate the relationship between smoking and surgical complications and their associated costs. Other ongoing studies explore the profiles of sleep apnea patients and treatment outcomes for lung cancer patients.
All data on lung cancer patients is extracted from the HUS data lake
The lung cancer study includes all data from patients diagnosed between 2013 and 2023. The data is extracted from the Helsinki University Hospital (HUS) data lake. This study includes all available information, such as healthcare visits, treatments, genetics, pathology, and laboratory tests.
The results provide information, among other things, on treatment outcomes and will help clinicians make evidence-based treatment decisions.
-Previously, we didn’t have any data on lung cancer treatment outcomes. Yet, we are constantly taking actions and administering expensive medications. It’s essential to know what happens to patients. Now we get real-world data (RWD) quite rapidly, says Dr. Heikki Ekroos, Chief Physician of Pulmonary Diseases at Helsinki University Hospital (HUS) Porvoo Hospital.
The data lake provides information on smoking and surgical complications
The study showed that current and former smokers have a significantly increased risk of experiencing complications after surgery. This study was also a great example of the possibilities that machine learning and hospital data lakes provide for research.
– It was important for me that we obtained scientific results on the effects of smoking on surgical recovery. Now we have a strong argument for why it’s worth quitting smoking before surgery, says Dr. Heikki Ekroos, Chief Physician of Pulmonary Diseases at HUS Porvoo Hospital, who led the study.
Machine learning and artificial intelligence assisted in real-world evidence (RWE) research
The dataset for the study covered about a million surgeries. Initially, clinicians reviewed 20,000 patient records and classified patients as smokers, quitters, or non-smokers. This classification was used to teach a machine learning algorithm.
By using machine learning and artificial intelligence, smoking data for over a million surgeries was determined. The algorithm distinguished smokers, quitters, and non-smokers from patient records. Physicians had predefined the complications being sought. Ultimately, 158,638 surgeries were left for AI analysis.
According to Ekroos, Medaffcon’s expertise was essential for the project and helped define how to use the data.
-At the beginning of the project, it is necessary to define what data is being sought. Medaffcon also helped integrate machine learning into the study. Without machine learning, handling such a large amount of data would have been impossible, Dr. Heikki Ekroos, Chief Physician of Pulmonary Diseases at Helsinki University Hospital (HUS) Porvoo Hospital explains.
Medaffcon Oy provides research and expert services for the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare. The EMMA event organized by Medaffcon discussed developing pharmaceutical evaluation activities and its future prospects, as well as utilizing healthcare registry data and innovative new opportunities. The EMMA event was held on April 10, 2024. Dr. Heikki Ekroos, Chief Physician of Pulmonary Diseases at HUS Porvoo Hospital, spoke in EMMA about real-world research from a clinician’s perspective.
Mariann joined Medaffcon’s team in 2016 after finishing her PhD. The transition to real world evidence (RWE) research was a natural continuum to her previous research career. Through RWE studies, she has had the privilege to gain a broad insight into working with different stakeholders within the healthcare field. The vast proportion of her days goes towards interacting with clients, planning and performing RWE studies, and supporting Medaffcon’s RWE team. Subjects that keep her work interesting are the vast variability of customers and projects, problem-solving, and interacting with people.
“The number of RWE studies has increased since stakeholders within the healthcare industry have an increasing demand for knowledge-based decision making tools that need to be fulfilled. The future, therefore, has an ever-increasing emphasis on RWE”.
Iiro joined Medaffcon in March 2017 as a Biostatistician. For the preceding four years, he has worked as a research assistant in an academic study group, analyzing clinical and genetic patient data. Iiro holds a Master of Science degree in Technology in Bioinformation Technology.
Iiro’s strengths include his strong expertise in statistics and data-analysis, hands-on experience in working with sensitive patient data, and strong interdisciplinary communication skills with experts from various fields. In the field, he is particularly interested in the large data amounts made available with the revolution of technology and how the information received such data can potentially be utilized to draw concrete conclusions, both in order to understand the nature of diseases and to advance the goals of the pharmaceutical industry and patient treatment.
“Machine learning and AI-based solutions will have a major impact on the healthcare sector now and in the future. However, effectively utilizing the already collected and available health-data will have a higher importance in order to improve health-care”.
Jarmo joined Medaffcon as a partner and CEO in 2010, having previously worked in various expert and management positions in pharma companies for eight years. Jarmo has a degree in economics and before entering the pharmaceutical industry, he held an office at the Turku School of Economics and also worked as a research fellow at Turku University Hospital.
Jarmo has strong expertise in new health technology innovations and how the demands and expectations of authorities, markets and customers are matched. He also brings to Medaffcon extensive experience in health economics and its applications in research and commercialization, as well as a broad understanding of the ever-changing operating environment.
“From an access point of view, the Finnish health technology market is constantly becoming more demanding and therefore also more attractive from my point of view. On the other hand, increasing demands to demonstrate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of healthcare are broadening the scope and opportunities for Medaffcon to be involved in the development of healthcare as a whole”.
Tomi Vahevaara started working at Medaffcon in January 2017 as a Sales Director. He has been working in the pharmaceutical industry for over 35 years. Therefore, he has gained wide-ranging experience in international expert and managerial positions within the innovative pharmaceutical industry. Before joining Medaffcon, Tomi worked for ten years as the Managing Director of Eli Lilly for Finland, the Baltic States, and Poland.
Tomi has solid and wide-ranging expertise in different positions in the pharmaceutical field and is well connected in the entire health industry network. He serves as the Chairman of the Board of the Finnish Mutual Insurance Company for Pharmaceutical Injury Indemnities and as a Board Member in the Finnish Co-operative for Pharmaceutical Injury Indemnities. Tomi is particularly interested in the significant economic and investment opportunities for Finland and those companies working in the Finnish health industry.
Milla joined Medaffcon September in 2023 as the Marketing Manager. She is responsible for overseeing Medaffcon’s marketing activities, including brand management, digital marketing, go-to-market activities with international sales, events, and also involded in different customer projects.
Milla has extensive experience in launching various brands, such as a global Hublet ICT Saas Business, a new human resource brand under Otiga Finland, and numerous product launches in the consumer goods and cosmetic industries. She has worked with global and Finnish brands and growth companies in marketing, communications, and digitalization positions across different industries, including ICT, Health Tech/Health and Wellness Business, Human Resources, and Consumer Goods/Cosmetics. In the last five years, she has held positions as Head of Marketing/Communications positions.
She completed her Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 2008, specializing in entrepreneurship, leadership, and marketing. Additionally, she studied economics at the University of Vaasa, focusing on managing a growth company. She is particularly interested in the opportunities that artificial intelligence brings to the development of business and constantly develops herself through these areas.