Building a Research Infrastructure with REDCap and FHIR

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Clinical Data Management

Background:

• Implementation of a research infrastructure at Giessen University Hospital since 2018.
• Part of the German Medical Informatics Initiative.
• Established a central Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) repository for data consolidation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the implemented research infrastructure.
• To highlight the integration of REDCap for local data entry.
• To showcase the utility of the FHIR repository in research projects.

Main Methods:

• Consolidation of clinical data from various subsystems into a central FHIR repository.
• Connection of past research projects via FHIR, i2b2, or OMOP databases.
• Integration of REDCap as an electronic data capture platform for local research.

Main Results:

• Successful utilization of the infrastructure in 3 research projects.
• Projects spanned internal medicine and psychosomatic medicine.
• Demonstrated ability to combine REDCap data entry with the central FHIR repository.

Conclusions:

• The implemented infrastructure effectively supports clinical research.
• The central FHIR repository serves as a valuable core dataset.
• RECap integration enhances local research capabilities within the existing infrastructure.