BIRO (2005–08)

Why BIRO?

BIRO — Best Information Through Regional Outcomes — addressed weak use of health information, poor linkage between regional sources and European reporting, limited statistical methods, privacy concerns and the lack of standard approaches for secure data transmission.

Its aim was to strengthen diabetes monitoring and support policy through systematic evaluation of care and prevention strategies using an approach designed to be applicable to chronic diseases more generally.

Objectives

The general objective was to build a common European infrastructure for standardised information exchange in diabetes care, supporting regular monitoring and dissemination of evidence on best-practice guidelines.

Specific objectives included common clinical guidelines and indicators, a European minimum dataset, a data dictionary, standard report templates, relational data and statistical engines, secure international communication, public-domain software, user-friendly reporting and dissemination through a portal and specialist publication. Together these components formed the Shared European Diabetes Information System (SEDIS).

Workplan

BIRO ran from 2005–2008, later extended to 42 months. The workplan started from research and policy evidence to identify target indicators and data required for European Diabetes Reports. Advanced statistical and meta-analytical methods allowed centres to run common analyses locally and combine partial aggregate results centrally without changing routine regional data collection.