Using an information warehouse to screen patients for clinical trials: a prototype

Area of Science:

• Clinical Research Informatics
• Health Data Management
• Patient Recruitment Strategies

Background:

• Clinical trial success relies on timely patient identification and screening.
• Manual patient tracking is complex, time-consuming, and prone to errors.
• Efficient patient recruitment is crucial for drug discovery and developing new treatments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a web-based prototype for automated clinical trial patient screening.
• To streamline the identification of eligible patients for clinical trials.
• To improve the efficiency and accuracy of the patient recruitment process.

Main Methods:

• Developed a web-based functional prototype at Ohio State University Medical Center (OSUMC).
• Utilized data from the Information Warehouse (IW) for patient screening.
• Implemented a system allowing researchers to apply inclusion/exclusion criteria to identify potential candidates.

Main Results:

• The prototype enables instant identification of potentially eligible patients for clinical trials.
• Researchers can screen patients based on specific protocol criteria without compromising patient identity.
• Provides access to comprehensive historical clinical data, including lab results, diagnoses, pathology reports, and clinical notes.

Conclusions:

• The developed prototype significantly enhances the efficiency of clinical trial patient screening.
• Automated screening using existing data can overcome manual tracking challenges.
• This tool facilitates faster patient identification, potentially accelerating drug discovery and treatment development.