Data in EHRs

The comparative effectiveness piece in the Jan MLA News is worth a read.  In particular:

As electronic health record systems begin to provide rich data sources for conducting CER [comparative effectiveness research] and the body of effectiveness research evidence grows, it is likely that evidence derived from CER will substantially supplement or even replace traditional RCTs as the main source of evidence for EBM guidelines and clinical decision support.

EHRs are (or will be) great sources of data and it seems reasonable to expect that data to become the centrepiece of new evidence.