Good practices for clinical data warehouse implementation: A case study in France

Author summary Reusing routine care data does not come free of charges. Attention must be paid to the entire life cycle of the data to create robust knowledge and develop innovation. Building upon the first overview of CDWs in France, we document key aspects of the collection and organization of routine care data into homogeneous databases: governance, transparency, types of data, data reuse main objectives, technical tools, documentation, and data quality control processes. The landscape of CDWs in France dates from 2011 and accelerated in the late 2020, showing a progressive but still incomplete homogenization. National and European projects are emerging, supporting local initiatives in standardization, methodological work, and tooling. From this sample of CDWs, we draw general recommendations aimed at consolidating the potential of routine care data to improve healthcare. Particular attention must be paid to the sustainability of the warehouse teams and to the multilevel governance. The transparency of the data transformation tools and studies must improve to allow successful multicentric data reuses as well as innovations for the patient.