{"id":7525,"date":"2025-07-02T17:02:49","date_gmt":"2025-07-02T15:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hip.vitagroup.ag\/offene-plattformen-forschung-vorantreiben\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T14:20:50","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T13:20:50","slug":"open-platforms-help-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hip.vitagroup.ag\/en\/open-platforms-help-research\/","title":{"rendered":"How open platforms help research"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_section full_width=&#8221;stretch_row&#8221; el_id=&#8221;magazin-titel&#8221; el_class=&#8221;lichtgrau&#8221;][vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row&#8221;][vc_column][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221; el_class=&#8221;headline-xl&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h1>How open platforms help research<\/h1>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221; el_class=&#8221;introduction&#8221;]Fragmented, non-standardised healthcare data slows research, drives up costs, and limits collaboration across institutions. Open platforms bring structure and interoperability, making it possible to harness data at scale for faster, more impactful medical breakthroughs.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row&#8221; el_class=&#8221;back-button-row lichtgrau&#8221; css=&#8221;.vc_custom_1689591697517{background-color: #f5f5f5 !important;}&#8221;][vc_column]<style type=\"text\/css\" data-type=\"the7_shortcodes-inline-css\">#default-btn-03138c92701b97cc2c0f87d7b408de4c.ico-right-side > i {\n  margin-right: 0px;\n  margin-left: 8px;\n}\n#default-btn-03138c92701b97cc2c0f87d7b408de4c > i {\n  margin-right: 8px;\n}<\/style><div class=\"btn-align-left\"><a href=\"https:\/\/hip.vitagroup.ag\/en\/news-stories\/magazine\/\" class=\"default-btn-shortcode dt-btn dt-btn-m link-hover-off tertiary small back \" id=\"default-btn-03138c92701b97cc2c0f87d7b408de4c\" title=\"Magazine\"><i class=\"icomoon-the7-font-the7-arrow-12\"><\/i><span>back<\/span><\/a><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section][vc_section full_width=&#8221;stretch_row&#8221; el_id=&#8221;magazin-content&#8221; el_class=&#8221;lichtgrau&#8221;][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=&#8221;7504&#8243; img_size=&#8221;full&#8221; css=&#8221;&#8221; image_hovers=&#8221;false&#8221; el_class=&#8221;main-news-image&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_class=&#8221;no-padding-top&#8221;][vc_column][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]Every meaningful advance in healthcare research builds on the foundations of shared knowledge and data. Yet data fragmentation remains a persistent challenge: in Europe, between \u20ac3-5 billion is wasted annually in research due to data silos and lack of interoperability between health systems, according to the European Research Area (ERA).<\/p>\n<h2>When data doesn\u2019t align<\/h2>\n<p>To understand the root cause of these challenges, let&#8217;s look at how non-interoperable data impacts research in practice. Take diabetes-related data as an example. Blood glucose measurements, one of the parameters for diabetes studies, are often stored inconsistently across healthcare providers:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Hospital A <\/strong>uses different names for blood glucose across departments \u2013 like <em>BloodSugar<\/em> or <em>BG_Level<\/em> \u2013 without a consistent code or format, making it hard to combine the data automatically.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Hospital B <\/strong>uses equiring manual conversion.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Hospital C <\/strong>employs coded data but uses internal, non-standard identifiers such as, for example, BG_001, which are not aligned with international standards.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Such variations in data recordings are not only taking place between hospitals but also within a single hospital. When data is coded in such different ways, it only works\u00a0inside a given hospital\u2019s database\u00a0and cannot be used by researchers outright to be compared to datasets from other systems or hospitals. So, when researchers want to access and use data on blood glucose levels from multiple hospitals, they face several challenges:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>They must invest a lot of time and resources in cleaning and standardising the data to make it compatible and used effectively. This labour-intensive process takes time and consequently drives up study costs.<\/li>\n<li>Data is often \u201ccleaned up\u201d manually, which increases the risk of errors or misinterpretation, potentially compromising the reliability and reproducibility of research findings.<\/li>\n<li>Large-scale health studies require data from multiple institution or even countries to identify trends, assess treatment effectiveness, and develop new therapies. Discrepancies in data recordings in health systems make this a slow and complex process, delaying collaborations and reducing the statistical power of studies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text]<div class=\"ult-spacer spacer-69db7cc9e970c\" data-id=\"69db7cc9e970c\" data-height=\"30\" data-height-mobile=\"30\" data-height-tab=\"30\" data-height-tab-portrait=\"\" data-height-mobile-landscape=\"\" style=\"clear:both;display:block;\"><\/div>[vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h2>A unified approach to research data<\/h2>\n<p>For research to be effective and cost-efficient, it requires seamless access to structured data across different healthcare organisations and healthcare settings \u2013 which is where open platforms provide a critical foundation. They ensure that healthcare data is stored independently of the system that created it, it is structured and stored centrally and is available in real-time.[\/vc_column_text]<div class=\"ult-spacer spacer-69db7cc9e9737\" data-id=\"69db7cc9e9737\" data-height=\"30\" data-height-mobile=\"30\" data-height-tab=\"30\" data-height-tab-portrait=\"\" data-height-mobile-landscape=\"\" style=\"clear:both;display:block;\"><\/div>[vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]<strong>This offers several benefits for research:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Open platforms eliminate the need for data mappings, making it easier and faster to combine and study and researchers can trust that they are comparing similar information<\/li>\n<li>Having data readily available also accelerates research time, reducing costs and leading to quicker discoveries and improvements in healthcare<\/li>\n<li>Errors that took place during manual data cleaning are also eliminated due to readily available compatible data formats<\/li>\n<li>Research is not confined to isolated datasets but can be expanded across platforms, regions, and countries, enabling bigger, more diverse<\/li>\n<li>Open platforms enable access to real-world data, allowing researchers to understand what works, rather than relying on controlled trial settings.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text]<div class=\"ult-spacer spacer-69db7cc9e9759\" data-id=\"69db7cc9e9759\" data-height=\"30\" data-height-mobile=\"30\" data-height-tab=\"30\" data-height-tab-portrait=\"\" data-height-mobile-landscape=\"\" style=\"clear:both;display:block;\"><\/div>[vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h2>Open platforms in action<\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"TrackChangeTextInsertion TrackedChange SCXW226980802 BCX8\"><span class=\"TextRun Underlined SCXW226980802 BCX8\" lang=\"EN-GB\" xml:lang=\"EN-GB\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW226980802 BCX8\">A<\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"TrackChangeTextInsertion TrackedChange SCXW226980802 BCX8\"><span class=\"TextRun Underlined SCXW226980802 BCX8\" lang=\"EN-GB\" xml:lang=\"EN-GB\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW226980802 BCX8\">t t<\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"TrackChangeTextInsertion TrackedChange SCXW226980802 BCX8\"><span class=\"TextRun Underlined SCXW226980802 BCX8\" lang=\"EN-GB\" xml:lang=\"EN-GB\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW226980802 BCX8\">he<\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"TrackChangeTextInsertion TrackedChange SCXW226980802 BCX8\"><span class=\"TextRun Underlined SCXW226980802 BCX8\" lang=\"EN-GB\" xml:lang=\"EN-GB\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW226980802 BCX8\"> University Medicine Bochum, the Medical Faculty and University Hospital of <\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"TrackChangeTextInsertion TrackedChange SCXW226980802 BCX8\"><span class=\"TextRun SCXW226980802 BCX8\" lang=\"EN-GB\" xml:lang=\"EN-GB\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW226980802 BCX8\">Ruhr University Bochum<\/span><\/span><\/span><span class=\"TrackChangeTextInsertion TrackedChange SCXW226980802 BCX8\"><span class=\"TextRun Underlined SCXW226980802 BCX8\" lang=\"EN-GB\" xml:lang=\"EN-GB\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW226980802 BCX8\"> (UK RUB)<\/span><\/span><\/span> has adopted an open platform approach to enable seamless research collaboration across its eight university hospital organisations l and to establish a central point for data provision to the medical informatics initiative (Medizininformatik-Initiative, MII).<\/p>\n<p>With <span class=\"TextRun Underlined SCXW23383982 BCX8\" lang=\"EN-GB\" xml:lang=\"EN-GB\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW23383982 BCX8\">approximately\u00a0 <\/span><\/span>800,000 patients per year, the <span class=\"TrackChangeTextInsertion TrackedChange TrackChangeHoverSelectColorOlive SCXW23383982 BCX8\"><span class=\"TextRun Underlined SCXW23383982 BCX8\" lang=\"EN-GB\" xml:lang=\"EN-GB\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun TrackChangeHoverSelectHighlightOlive SCXW23383982 BCX8\">University Medicine Bochum <\/span><\/span><\/span>research infrastructure will consolidate vast amounts of clinical pseudonymised data into a standardised, interoperable system, <span data-teams=\"true\">ensuring that researchers at the UK RUB, as well as researchers at MII<\/span>, have efficient access to high-quality data sets.<\/p>\n<p>Each hospital within <span class=\"TrackChangeTextInsertion TrackedChange TrackChangeHoverSelectColorOlive SCXW23383982 BCX8\"><span class=\"TextRun Underlined SCXW23383982 BCX8\" lang=\"EN-GB\" xml:lang=\"EN-GB\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun TrackChangeHoverSelectHighlightOlive SCXW23383982 BCX8\">University Medicine Bochum <\/span><\/span><\/span>retains control over its local data management system while contributing pseudonymised research data to one central instance.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]With an initial focus on the basic modules of the core data set of the Medical Informatics Initiative (MII), <span class=\"TextRun Underlined SCXW207174020 BCX8\" lang=\"EN-GB\" xml:lang=\"EN-GB\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW207174020 BCX8\" data-ccp-parastyle=\"Normal (Web)\">University Medicine Bochum&#8217;s <\/span><\/span>open platform project lays the groundwork for large-scale, data-driven studies \u2013 ultimately accelerating medical research and, in the long term, improving patient outcomes.[\/vc_column_text]<div class=\"ult-spacer spacer-69db7cc9e9779\" data-id=\"69db7cc9e9779\" data-height=\"30\" data-height-mobile=\"30\" data-height-tab=\"30\" data-height-tab-portrait=\"\" data-height-mobile-landscape=\"\" style=\"clear:both;display:block;\"><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h2>Faster medical research and better treatment outcomes for patients<\/h2>\n<p>Much like the <span class=\"TextRun Underlined SCXW207174020 BCX8\" lang=\"EN-GB\" xml:lang=\"EN-GB\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW207174020 BCX8\" data-ccp-parastyle=\"Normal (Web)\">University Medicine Bochum <\/span><\/span>example, the Central Institute for Mental Health in Mannheim, Germany, is developing an innovative research IT platform (FIT) to improve data-driven research in mental health and psychiatric disorders. At the core of the FIT platform is vitagroup&#8217;s HIP, which stores and provides data from the <span class=\"TextRun SCXW150660814 BCX8\" lang=\"EN-GB\" xml:lang=\"EN-GB\" data-contrast=\"none\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun TrackChangeHoverSelectHighlightPurple SCXW150660814 BCX8\">institution\u2019s <\/span><\/span>various IT systems of the institution in a centralised and standardised manner, <span class=\"TextRun SCXW150660814 BCX8\" lang=\"EN-GB\" xml:lang=\"EN-GB\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW150660814 BCX8\">thereby ensuring structured storage and interoperability<\/span><\/span>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>ORBIS (Dedalus)<\/strong>: Supplies structured clinical data, including diagnoses, medications, and treatment history.<\/li>\n<li><strong>REDCap<\/strong>: Captures structured research data, such as questionnaire responses and clinical trial information.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Laboratory Databases<\/strong>: Provide biochemical, genetic, and diagnostic test results relevant to mental health studies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>With all the data from the above systems harmonised and stored centrally enabled by HIP, researchers can efficiently\u00a0query\u00a0patient datasets, define study parameters, and access high-quality clinical information without compromising patient confidentiality. The platform also\u00a0automates consent management, simplifying approvals for research requests.<\/p>\n<p>With open platforms bridging the gap between fragmented data sources, healthcare research can become more efficient, scalable, and connected \u2013 ultimately transforming the way we understand and treat diseases.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fragmented healt data slows research, drives up costs, and limits collaboration. Open platforms bring structure and interoperability, making it possible to harness data at scale for faster breakthroughs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":7504,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","category-69","description-off"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hip.vitagroup.ag\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hip.vitagroup.ag\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hip.vitagroup.ag\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hip.vitagroup.ag\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hip.vitagroup.ag\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7525"}],"version-history":[{"count":25,"href":"https:\/\/hip.vitagroup.ag\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10298,"href":"https:\/\/hip.vitagroup.ag\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7525\/revisions\/10298"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hip.vitagroup.ag\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hip.vitagroup.ag\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hip.vitagroup.ag\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hip.vitagroup.ag\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}