PHARMO Record Linkage System (The Netherlands)

The PHARMO database network is an information system that brings together data about patients who have received prescription drugs so that researchers can study the patients’ outcomes after receiving treatment. In addition to containing information about drug dispensation, PHARMO also includes data about clinical laboratory measurements, hospitalizations, and doctors’ contact information. The system came into use in 1993, and now contains information about almost 20 percent of the population of the Netherlands. PHARMO is a patient-centric network of databases that is intended to provide information about drug safety and effectiveness by making it possible to track the health status of patients whose records are accessible in its system. PHARMO contains records for about 3 million patients. There is a central database containing the patient information, ...