ReviewBridging the gap between the randomised clinical trial world and the real world by combination of population-based registry and electronic health record data: A case study in haemato-oncology

•The limitations of randomised clinical trials to evidence-based medicine are reviewed.•Complementary strategies based on exploiting population-based registries and electronic health records are discussed.•A novel approach combining population-based registry and electronic health record features is proposed.

Randomised clinical trials (RCTs) are considered the basis of evidence-based medicine. It is recognised more and more that application of RCT results in daily practice of clinical decision-making is limited because the RCT world does not correspond with the clinical real world. Recent strategies aiming at substitution of RCT databases by improved population-based registries (PBRs) or by improved electronic health record (EHR) systems to provide significant data for clinical science are discussed. A novel approach exemplified by the HemoBase haemato-oncology project is presented. In this approach, a PBR is combined with an advanced EHR, providing high-quality data for observational studies and support of best practice development. This PBR + EHR approach opens a perspective on randomised registry trials.