RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Obtaining real-world evidence: the Salford Lung Study JF Thorax JO Thorax FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Thoracic Society SP 1152 OP 1154 DO 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2014-205259 VO 69 IS 12 A1 John P New A1 Nawar Diar Bakerly A1 David Leather A1 Ashley Woodcock YR 2014 UL http://thorax.bmj.com/content/69/12/1152.abstract AB We need to assess clinical treatments in real-life settings outside of randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Pragmatic RCT (pRCT) data can supplement RCTs by providing effectiveness information to support healthcare decisions. Electronic health records can facilitate concurrent safety monitoring and data collection without direct patient contact for large randomised study populations in pRCTs. The Salford Lung Study is the world's first phase III pRCT in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which aims to randomise over 7000 patients. This paper describes the hurdles overcome and the enormous effort and resource required to establish this comparative effectiveness study of a prelicence intervention.GlaxoSmithKline protocol HZC115151Asthma study clinicaltrials.gov registration NCT01706198COPD study clinicaltrials.gov registration NCT01551758