Background

Electronic patient records are an important tool for storing and sharing patient data between healthcare professionals and improving patient care. Ireland has a particularly rich repository of such records for people with epilepsy. However, this valuable data resource has so far been underused to inform service delivery, clinical practice, or national policy.

Research

This study introduces a prototype clinical dashboard developed using anonymised electronic patient records. The tool allows for group-level analysis of epilepsy data. To demonstrate its potential, researchers used it to identify how many women of childbearing age (16–45 years) are currently prescribed sodium valproate—a medicine known to carry risks during pregnancy. The findings show that this type of analysis can be conducted easily using electronic records in a way not possible with individual patient files alone.

Potential Impact

The dashboard offers a practical example of how routinely collected patient data can support clinical decision-making, inform national epilepsy policy, and improve service planning. This is an important step towards building a learning health system for epilepsy care in Ireland—one that uses data to continually refine and improve epilepsy care.