Disease registry

Disease or patient registries are collections of secondary data related to patients with a specific diagnosis, condition, or procedure. In its simplest form, a disease registry could consist of a collection of paper cards kept inside "a shoe box" by an individual physician. Most frequently registries vary in sophistication from simple spreadsheets that only can be accessed by a small group of physicians to very complex databases that are accessed online across multiple institutions. Registries are different from indexes in that they contain more extensive data. They can help to hypothesize risk factors and allow scientific research. They provide health care providers (or patients) with reminders to check certain tests in order to reach certain quality goals. They play a role in epidemiological research, drug safety and post marketing surveillance of pharmaceuticals and devices.