Automating Data Entry from Electronic Health Record to Electronic Data Capture Using a Trusted Cloud-Based...

Area of Science:

• Clinical Informatics
• Health Data Management
• Cancer Research Technology

Background:

• Seamless data transfer from Electronic Health Records (EHR) to Electronic Data Capture (EDC) systems is a long-standing challenge in clinical research.
• Improving data accuracy and quality while reducing the burden on clinical research professionals are key goals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a secure, third-party cloud-based application linking EHR databases and EDC systems for clinical trials.
• To assess the impact of this technology on site staff workload, data accuracy, and completeness.

Main Methods:

• Three SWOG Cancer Research Network sites participated in the study.
• A cloud-based EHR-to-EDC application was used to collect study data for tumor assessment forms for a limited number of patients.
• Data collection was compared against manual medical record abstraction, measuring time savings, error rates, and interrater reliability.

Main Results:

• The software-assisted method demonstrated substantial time savings compared to manual abstraction.
• Significant improvements in data quality were observed, particularly for automatically captured data fields.
• The use of the cloud-based application led to higher data accuracy.

Conclusions:

• Secure, cloud-based applications effectively link EHR and EDC systems for clinical trial data collection.
• This technology offers considerable time savings for clinical research professionals.
• The approach enhances data accuracy in clinical trial research.