The Health Improvement Network (THIN) is a large database of anonymised electronic medical records collected at primary care clinics throughout the UK.
On the expiry of that licence, THIN was developed by EPIC as an alternative to the GPRD, and a substantial number of primary care practitioners now contribute data to both resources.
THIN data are made available under more permissive terms than other similar resources (such as the CPRD, which does not allow for-profit use by private companies), but access is subject to ethical approval by an independent Scientific Review Committee.
[1] Clinical data in THIN are catalogued using Read codes, a comprehensive and searchable classification scheme for medical conditions, symptoms and important background information.
In addition, practitioners contributing data to THIN receive training to ensure consistent recording of important clinical outcomes and indicators including: THIN is an important resource in the fields of epidemiology, drug safety[2] and health outcomes research, providing an inexpensive means to study the causes of disease and effectiveness of interventions in a large, representative[3] population.