biostudies-literatureJoshua Lin KNLM NIH HHSNational Institutes of Health243-251https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC8678205biostudies-literatureUnknown111(1)Electronic health record (EHR) discontinuity (i.e., receiving care outside of the study EHR system), can lead to information bias in EHR-based real-world evidence (RWE) studies. An algorithm has been previously developed to identify patients with high EHR-continuity. We sought to assess whether applying this algorithm to patient selection for inclusion can reduce bias caused by data-discontinuity in four RWE examples. Among Medicare beneficiaries aged >=65 years from 2007 to 2014, we established 4 cohorts assessing drug effects on short-term or long-term outcomes, respectively. We linked claims data with two US EHR systems and calculated %bias of the multivariable-adjusted effect estimates based on only EHR vs. linked EHR-claims data because the linked data capture medical information recoClinical pharmacology and therapeuticsLongitudinal Data Discontinuity in Electronic Health Records and Consequences for Medication Effectiveness Studies.PMC8678205R01LM012594R01 LM012594Schneeweiss SGagne JMurphy SNTong AGlynn RJJin YJoshua Lin KfalseLongitudinal Data Discontinuity in Electronic Health Records and Consequences for Medication Effectiveness Studies.Electronic health record (EHR) discontinuity (i.e., receiving care outside of the study EHR system), can lead to information bias in EHR-based real-world evidence (RWE) studies. An algorithm has been previously developed to identify patients with high EHR-continuity. We sought to assess whether applying this algorithm to patient selection for inclusion can reduce bias caused by data-discontinuity in four RWE examples. Among Medicare beneficiaries aged >=65 years from 2007 to 2014, we established 4 cohorts assessing drug effects on short-term or long-term outcomes, respectively. We linked claims data with two US EHR systems and calculated %bias of the multivariable-adjusted effect estimates based on only EHR vs. linked EHR-claims data because the linked data capture medical information reco2022-01-01T00:00:00Z2022 Jan2025-04-26T13:18:59.703Z2025-04-06T14:15:17.245ZS-EPMC86782053442453410.1002/cpt.2400