Existing Data Sources for Clinical Epidemiology: Database of the National Hospital Organization in Japan

Abstract

Natsuko Kanazawa,1,* Takuaki Tani,1,* Shinobu Imai,1– 3 Hiromasa Horiguchi,1 Kiyohide Fushimi,1,2 Norihiko Inoue1,2 1Department of Clinical Data Management and Research, Clinical Research Center, National Hospital Organization Headquarters, Tokyo, Japan; 2Department of Health Policy and Informatics, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan; 3Department of Drug Safety and Risk Management, School of Pharmacy, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Tokyo, Japan*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Norihiko Inoue, Department of Clinical Data Management and Research, Clinical Research Center, National Hospital Organization Headquarters, 2-5-21 Higashigaoka, Meguroku, Tokyo, 152-8621, Japan, Tel [phone], Fax [phone], Email [email protected]: This review introduces the National Hospital Organization (NHO) database in Japan. The NHO has maintained two databases through a system of data collection from 140 hospitals in the NHO. National Hospital Organization Clinical Data Archives (NCDA) is collecting clinical information in real time from the electronic medical records since January 2016, and Medical Information Analysis (MIA) databank is collecting daily insurance claims data since April 2010. The NHO database covers more than 8 million patients in 140 hospitals throughout Japan. The database consists of the information of patient profiles, hospital admission and discharge, diagnosis with ICD-10 codes, text data from medical chart, daily health insurance claims such as medical procedures, medications or surgeries, vital signs and laboratory data, and so on. The NHO database includes a wide variety of diseases and settings, including acute, chronic and intractable diseases, emergency medical services, disaster medicine, response to emerging infectious disease outbreaks, medical care according to health policies such as psychiatry, tuberculosis, or muscular dystrophy, and health systems in sparsely populated non-urban areas. Among several common diseases, the database has representativeness in terms of age distribution compared with the Patient Survey 2017 by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Interested researchers can contact ([email protected]) the NHO database division to obtain more information about the NHO database for utilization.Keywords: National Hospital Organization in Japan, real-world data, big data, diagnosis procedure combination, DPC, validation, database, linkage

Keywords

• national hospital organization in japan
• real-world data
• big data
• diagnosis procedure combination (dpc)
• validation
• database
• linkage