SPEDA - Automating Data Extraction from Health Records

The Issue

Researchers today face a frustrating and time-consuming process of manually extracting and organizing patient data from electronic health records.

It's like searching for a needle in a haystack, sifting through mountains of unstructured doctors' notes and clinical details. Not only does this slow down and limit what research is being done, but it also drains precious resources and introduces errors that can compromise the quality of the studies.

The lack of seamless integration and categorization tools turns what should be a straightforward task into a cumbersome, error-prone and tiring process, delaying discoveries that could save lives.

Digital heart illustration with neural network connections

Our Solution

SPEDA automates the extraction of patient information from Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems, saving valuable time and resources. We offer seamless data extraction via API access when available, but our real expertise lies in pioneering innovative methods that elegantly circumvent traditional limitations.

By leveraging advanced techniques, our solution integrates with EHR systems without relying on direct API support. Extracted data is then securely transferred to Electronic Data Capture systems. Our on-premise solution ensures full data security, with data never leaving local servers and only utilizing the access rights already granted to medical researchers.

Additionally, our AI-driven technology transforms unstructured doctor notes into organized data, making it ready for statistical analysis and research.

Supported By

Why you should work with us

SPEDA accelerates research by automating data transfers

Automatic

Data flows automatically from health records to the research platform so researchers spend time analysing, not typing.

Fast

The transfer happens in real time or multiple times per day to ensure the research database is always up to date.

Secure

Data transfer reduces the number of people accessing raw health records, improving compliance with data regulations.

Infographic showing data packages flowing to patient record and research platform

Our Story

SPEDA is a young, innovative MedTech company based in Copenhagen. We are dedicated to optimizing data infrastructure and handling in scientific clinical research, contributing to easier and better research outcomes.

Our story begins with a refusal to accept the status quo when systems are broken. During the COVID crisis, our CEO and co-founder Ali experienced firsthand the challenges of medical research data extraction. He found that the process was manual, time-consuming, and hindered the discovery of rapid solutions. Despite being told there was no better way, Ali spent his free time envisioning an improved solution. Copenhagen University's hub for innovative solutions saw the potential and supported SPEDA early on. Since then, Ali has assembled a team of experts with medical, technical, and commercial backgrounds who share his vision.

The SPEDA team has been busy developing our software, working on multiple customer projects, and exploring ways to further leverage our technology to drive better research. By collaborating closely with medical researchers, we ensure our solutions adhere to the highest privacy standards while improving research efficiency. We're excited to build the future of medical research together.

Our Vision

At SPEDA, we believe in harnessing the immense power of data to drive human health and research forward. We recognize that the key to unlocking groundbreaking medical discoveries lies within the vast amounts of health data already collected.

For too long, outdated systems and cumbersome processes have hindered our ability to fully utilize this valuable resource. We envision a future where these barriers no longer exist, where researchers can access and analyze data swiftly and efficiently, accelerating the pace of medical breakthroughs.

However, we understand that with great power comes great responsibility. We hold personal privacy as a paramount concern in this data-driven future. Our mission is to develop innovative solutions that strike the delicate balance between data utility and individual privacy. We are committed to building systems with the highest level of security, ensuring that sensitive information remains protected while still enabling researchers to extract meaningful insights.

By reimagining how we handle and process health data, we aim to usher in a new era of medical research - one where data flows freely yet securely, where insights are gleaned rapidly, and where advancements in healthcare are limited only by our imagination, not our tools.

At SPEDA, we're not just optimizing data infrastructure; we're paving the way for a healthier future for all of humanity.

Our Team

Nikola Burger

Chief Commercial Officer (CCO)

Ali Al-Alak

Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Tom Quast

Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

"Working with this team has been incredibly beneficial. They're easily accessible and quick to respond, which I really appreciate. They consistently provided a clear overview of the data and storage procedures, demonstrating a firm grasp on where and how we would retrieve the information. The data they delivered was high-quality and user-friendly, though I did need to manually look up some details that were not included in the initial extraction. I would definitely use their services again and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to others, especially for projects involving 100 patients or more. For larger datasets, I see tremendous potential for time savings. Overall, their service has significantly streamlined our research process."

Medical Researcher, Danish Capital Region

FAQ

Where APIs are available, we make use of them. However, we've found this is often not the case, which has held back solutions to emerge. We therefore use an innovative AI-based approach that navigates the system as a human would - just automatically and much faster.

Virtually anything stored in the records - we can extract vital signs, treatment plans, medical history, doctors' notes, medication prescriptions, laboratory results, and much more.

We operate on-premise, and therefore the data never leaves the hospital's system. SPEDA simply utilizes the access that researchers already have through ethical approval of their research. Since SPEDA never has direct access to the data, no additional permissions are needed.

Data security and patient privacy are our top priorities, and we adhere to the highest standards. We've built a system that works on-premise, ensuring data never leaves the researcher's server. Data is then directly extracted to the researcher's secure electronic data capture system.

Our customers' preferred choice is REDCap, which is our main integration. However, we can export data into virtually any electronic data capture system that the researcher might use.

We don't manage the ethical approval of studies; this must be ensured by the researchers beforehand. Otherwise, no approvals are needed since we work on-premise and don't access the data ourselves. Depending on your hospital, your IT department might want to additionally approve the software. Our team works closely with IT departments to handle this process smoothly.

We currently focus on EPIC and are expanding to serve all regions in Denmark. However, we're always pushing to enable our solutions in other markets. If you're using a different system, feel free to reach out, and our team will assess if we can serve you.

We charge based on the number of patients and datapoints extracted. Therefore, it's difficult to specify a fixed price. We always aim to be significantly cheaper than the manual alternative. For a specific price, please contact us for a customized offer for your project.

So far, accuracy hasn't been an issue in our projects. We're working on publishing a study to demonstrate our product's accuracy. To ensure we meet our customers' high standards, we always offer to work on a smaller dataset that has been manually extracted in the past as a first step, comparing the manual extraction with ours.

Want to know more about SPEDA?

Let us know what you would like to discuss and we will set up a meeting

Automating Data Extraction and Structuring from Health Records