The team that developed the Datatrak Platform shares their favorite features
I helped develop the Datatrak Enterprise Cloud for the Manager tools we use to handle clinical data in the platform. I am most excited about how useful the new functionality is. By simply configuring a few properties for a trial, it is easy to define a study’s workflow. In the previous version, if a user wanted to see all the forms that had been SDV’d and were ready to freeze, they would have needed to first select a patient, and then search for all forms that had been verified for that patient. This would give them a list of SDV’d forms for a single patient they could then Freeze. The upgrades to EDC allow the user to analyze how much work needs to be done simply by looking at any patient or form. Each entry in our Managers, be it a patient or form, is assessed along a variety of metrics like completion, SDV, queries issued and closed, etc. Progress with regard to these metrics is measured with informative color-coded progress bars. When hovering over a progress bar in a Manager (Patient Manager, Form Manager, Question Manager), a tool tip appears displaying exactly the number of data points in each status that determines the progress of that metric (ex. SDV’d, Needs SDV and Not Ready for SDV). Users can “drill down” on the patient simply by clicking on what they wish to view. Continuing with my example from above, if I wished to view all forms that need to be Frozen for a patient, all I would have to do is click the red segment of the Frozen Status column, and I would instantly see that set of forms! This upgrade enables users to immediately, and easily, drill down to the specific data requiring action. I hope that this will allow users to spend less time determining what data they need to be reviewing and more time cleaning the data, which lowers the overall time and cost required in the clinical trial, reducing complexity and safely accelerating the trial.
Sr. Clinical Data Manager, Todd Thompson The most exciting upgrade to the Datatrak Enterprise Cloud platform is the improvements to the Manager Interface and the advanced Filters within the Managers, adding an unprecedented level of responsiveness and efficiency. The upgrades enable insight to the current status of data, requiring less time to find the data, and more time to review it. The ability to easily organize and analyze data through filters, progress bars and my personal favorite – drag & drop functionality – lets each user customize the view of the information. Let’s be honest, most Data Managers have worked with many different systems. Some can be rather user friendly while others can make you want to pull your hair out and scream! With the improved platform, I am able to customize the Managers to meet MY NEEDS. Each Manager is made up of columns and rows that pertain to statuses. Within these columns, we now have a color-coded progress bar. Each progress bar is color coded to indicate where you are in the process of data entry and cleaning; if you hover your mouse over the progress bar it will provide you with a percentage of completion. The colored portions of the progression bars can also be clicked to drill down to a more specific Manager. The Subject Manager links will redirect to the Form Manager. The Form Manager links will redirect to the Question Manager. These links cut down my time filtering for data and make me more efficient in my daily tasks. Filters can be used to store any of the components of the Managers that you do not wish to view, and it allows you to save your search and filter settings for future use. With many other systems, I am bombarded with statuses and other information that I do not need during my daily study maintenance. I normally would have to scan through and disregard the given information that I do not need. Now, I can easily customize these tables to only provide what I need. Here is where my favorite upgrade comes in – the Drag & Drop Functionality. Not only can I make customizations to meet my needs, Datatrak has made the customization process incredibly user friendly. With the Drag & Drop Functionality, the columns can be arranged and rearranged within the Manager table and the unused columns moved to the Search table where they can still be used as Filters. The column will retain any filter and sort settings while freeing up space in the table itself. All the user has to do is hover the mouse over the column name until the cursor changes to a 4-way arrow. Then you just click and drag the column to another portion of the Manager table or to the Search table (see Below). Improvements to the Managers have transformed data management to help you use the data to manage the trial, rather than managing the data itself.
