Pharmacology Portal: An Open Database for Clinical Pharmacologic Laboratory Services

Abstract

PurposeMore than 50 Norwegian public and private laboratories provide one or more analyses for therapeutic drug monitoring or testing for drugs of abuse. Practices differ among laboratories, and analytical repertoires can change rapidly as new substances become available for analysis. MethodsThe Pharmacology Portal was developed to provide an overview of these activities and to standardize the practices and terminology among laboratories. The Pharmacology Portal is a modern dynamic web database comprising all available analyses within therapeutic drug monitoring and testing for drugs of abuse in Norway. Content can be retrieved by using the search engine or by scrolling through substance lists. The core content is a substance registry updated by a national editorial board of experts within the field of clinical pharmacology. This ensures quality and consistency regarding substance terminologies and classification. FindingsAll laboratories publish their own repertoires in a user-friendly workflow, adding laboratory-specific details to the core information in the substance registry. The user management system ensures that laboratories are restricted from editing content in the database core or in repertoires within other laboratory subpages. The portal is for nonprofit use, and has been fully funded by the Norwegian Medical Association, the Norwegian Society of Clinical Pharmacology, and the 8 largest pharmacologic institutions in Norway. ImplicationsThe database server runs an open-source content management system that ensures flexibility with respect to further development projects, including the potential expansion of the Pharmacology Portal to other countries.