OBJECTIVES:  Identification and characterization of existing electronic health records (EHR) in oncological (lung, breast and bladder) and neurological (multiple sclerosis) areas, in Italy, aiming to map potential sources of clinical data, suitable to facilitate Real World Evidence research. METHODS:   An initial screening, based on IMS Health databases (DBs), was conducted to identify Italian hospitals equipped with EHRs. Data contained in the Hospital Software Providers DB were matched with the information provided by Hospital Information Technology Directors. Moreover, the IMS IMFO DB allowed the selection of hospitals provided with wards in scope for this research, while the IMS One Key DB provided contacts of the clinicians working in those wards. After that screening, a CATI questionnaire, tailored during the desk research phase, was administered to clinicians previously identified and information coming from the questionnaires was harmonized and organized into a structured database. RESULTS: Among hospital wards of interest, 30% only use EHRs, even if interestingly half of the remaining 70% are located in hospitals equipped with a dedicated EHR software. Clinicians identified as working within the hospitals actually using EHRs and accepting to be interviewed, accounted for 70% (redemption rate). About 40% of them declared they have been using EHRs for more than 5 years and, on average, information collected are exhaustive and include: sociodemographic characteristics, information about clinical history, comorbidities, drugs administered, examinations and surgical interventions. It is worth noting that about 60% of clinicians declared that also paper clinical records are still being used in parallel. CONCLUSIONS: Potentially, Real World Data (RWD) presence in the Country is massive. However, results from the present study revealed that the Italian healthcare technological infrastructure is not fully able yet to make them readily available for research.