Commentary: Use of registries to investigate the past and develop the future

Ideally, collection of clinical data should be an integral part of healthcare systems. Without systematic collection of individual patient data and outcome it is impossible for individual doctors, healthcare providers, or regulatory agencies to understand how, when, and to whom healthcare is provided and the actual outcome of specific procedures or devices. Furthermore, complications of new devices or strategies, particularly those that are unexpected or infrequent, may be impossible to identify without systematic data collection in a registry.

As well as complications, a registry can identify and limit use of new treatments outside that for which they were clinically approved. For example, drug eluting stents were primarily used for off label indications during 2005-6. New treatments may also be underused because of financial barriers, insufficient training, or lack of confidence among doctors. A continuous registry may be able to identify such underuse and provide arguments for additional resources or more training .

Registries should always aim for consecutive enrolment of patients from a large …