Six Ways an Electronic Data Capture System Saves Time

An EDC improves efficiency and reliability while conducting clinical research. Here are some ways it does that:

1. Efficient Communication

The efficiency of communication between team members is what determines the success or failure of a clinical trial. If a team does not have a streamlined process for disseminating information throughout the life of a project that deals with the staggering amount of data typically generated by a drug trial, everything else can fall apart. An Electronic Data Capture (EDC) system provides a platform for making sure information gets to the proper people in a timely manner in a way that paper will never be able to match.
With an EDC, there is a much lower risk of communications being lost or seen by the wrong people. Updates can be shared instantly to ensure that everyone who needs to know will have the pertinent information at their fingertips with no waiting. The only thing you will have to wait for is federal approval (sorry, can’t help you there).

2. Instant Documentation

Every time a user changes a field or makes an entry into the EDC system, the time, date, and user information is captured and recorded instantaneously. Indeed, as soon as a user logs onto the study, the EDC system records how much time they spent on each form even if they simply left their browser open while they played Solitaire in another window (disclaimer: we do not, as yet, have a way to track for you who on your team is playing games and who is actually working).
The EDC system can also record signatures on forms along with accurate date/time stamps. Say an investigator forgot to sign off on a form, and it goes unnoticed until the end of the trial. With paper, the monitor would have to track down who the investigator at that site was and mail them the form to sign. Then the offending investigator would have to mail the signed form back to the Monitor. If the investigator forgot to sign the form initially, who is to say they won’t also forget to send the signed form back? This process is time-consuming and susceptible to errors. With electronic data-capture, signatures are a given and no one has to wait by the mailbox for clerical corrections.

3. Intuitive Summaries

Most clinical trial personnel would agree the most time-consuming aspect of a drug trial is the extrapolation of useful information from the massive amounts of data generated throughout any given study. Where paper fails, an EDC system thrives. The EDC platform is designed specifically to make combing through data as efficient as possible (we won’t go so far as to say it’s enjoyable, but efficient, definitely). An EDC accomplishes this by providing user-friendly summaries directly within the system, which saves time and energy by doing all the work of combing through patient data for you.
Summaries can be set up to meet almost any parameters you can think of, and they can be set up in a matter of seconds. You can compare infinite pieces of data (provided you have infinite pieces of data) to help you come up with the most accurate results possible for your study without wasting man-hours (or woman-hours). Most importantly, EDC summaries can be saved, altered, and shared as fast as thought, so you can keep up with the continuously evolving business of producing safe drugs for people and animals.

4. Real-Time Monitoring

Monitors can review data entered into an EDC System as soon as the person entering the data hits ‘Save’. There are even features which allow monitors to view data-entry live from a remote location to ensure that patients are kept safe during difficult or potentially dangerous procedures. An EDC system keeps a study moving forward by removing lag-time between clinical observations of patients and safety monitoring of documentation.

5. Error Minimization

The biggest shortcoming with recording data on paper might be the amount of errors that go undetected. When using an EDC system, where every field utilizes automatic constraints and calculations, often in tandem, errors are not only much easier to detect but they are also much easier to prevent.
Constraints can be placed on fields to restrict an impossible value from ever being entered in the first place. If there are unforeseen types of errors that the constraints do not account for, then the monitors can easily attach a query directly onto the field in question. Then the system can be updated to catch any future errors of the same kind. More levels of validation lead to less mistakes.

6. Customizable Forms

Every clinical trial is unique, and, therefore, every clinical trial has unique requirements when it comes to forms and fields. An EDC system, being highly customizable, offers the ability to only show the fields necessary to be filled out for each patient and visit. This saves time for the investigators when recording their observations. They do not need to waste time filling out an entire stock form as they would on paper.

Forms in an EDC system can be set up so that the next field or form becomes visible or remains suppressed depending on the answer to a previous field or form. In this way, the system guides the data entry personnel through the appropriate process and prevents a lot of headaches. Plus, not having papers means no paperwork!