Multi-Disciplinary Data Collection by Design
Published: 19 April 2018
A data infrastructure was required for a retrospective study investigating genetic markers for a particular condition. Initially a researcher pulled together a list of patients eligible for inclusion. Advice on how to do this was provided by a Node Informatician.
A data infrastructure was required for a retrospective study investigating genetic markers for a particular condition. Initially a researcher pulled together a list of patients eligible for inclusion. Advice on how to do this was provided by a Node Informatician.
Tissue samples from each of these patients are examined by a pathologist to determine whether there is sufficient tumour tissue for inclusion in the study. If so, the sample is passed to a genetics laboratory for a battery of tests, while radiologists are tasked with examining patients' imaging results to determine their response to treatment. Each of these tasks is performed by individuals based in different locations across NHS GG&C.
Our solution is to import the researcher's spreadsheet of patients into a database, which is encrypted and placed in a network share with limited access. Each of the individuals contributing to this study are given their own 'interface' designed with their specific task in mind. This facilitates a 'flow' of data collection, coordinated automatically across the different specialities and locations while maintaining secure storage of data.
First published: 19 April 2018