Back to Case Studies
CLINICIAN'S DASHBOARD
Problem
Managing a clinical trial at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is a cumbersome process for both the Principal Investigator (PI) and the nursing staff – physiological and psychometric data are manually collected on subjects and stored in paper forms and multiple databases, including the hospital information system; supplemental data on subjects is acquired through multiple stand-alone applications. Frequently, data is entered multiple times to facilitate both assessment and analysis.
Resolution
LCG Systems developed a solution, the Clinician’s Dashboard, for NIH’s National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The Clinician’s Dashboard provides the PI and nursing staff a tool to enter, retrieve, and aggregate all appropriate data from these various sources (pen-and-paper form data, client/server applications) and repositories (components of the hospital information system).
The Clinician’s Dashboard also tracks the subjects of these protocols, the subjects being considered for protocols, and data collected against the protocols. Subject evaluation forms were created to match the kinds of data collected specifically for NIAAA. Other data collection forms can be created easily to match different protocol collection needs upon the request of a researcher.
The tool was built using COTS technology components, and was designed to quickly incorporate additional data sources using a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA).
Value Added
This management tool reduces clinical staff workload by eliminating paper forms, and provides the PI with new methods for effective analysis and decision-making. In addition, LCG System’s efficient system design ensures cost-effective deployment of additional assessment and analysis tools in the future.
Technologies Used
LCG Systems used a Microsoft .Net solution, including Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft .Net framework, Internet Information Server 6.0, Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server and Microsoft Office 2003. This solution integrated best with the standard desktop environment supported by the client.