Database software for clinical trials in a medical practice

We conduct clinical trials at our medical practice and are looking for a program that allows us to quickly obtain search results based on specified parameters. While our practice management system (DURIA) can do this to a limited extent, we do not wish to change this system.

Our task is to collect data relevant to us and then filter it according to various search criteria. Important criteria include: age, diagnoses, medication (and/or), and lab values (with specific target ranges).

Are there any programs that are compatible with our existing software? Or is manual entry of all parameters needed later the only option?

The software is intended for use on 3 to 5 workstations.

Note from SoftGuide:

Capturing relevant data in a database and subsequently evaluating or filtering it is a standard task for databases and database software. Manual entry is not recommended once the number of data records becomes large. In addition to the high effort involved, data entry errors and synchronization issues must be considered, which can compromise the results of the studies. Ideally, the database software accesses the “raw data” from the medical application. Missing criteria (database fields) are then supplemented in the database. The analysis is performed using so-called queries (e.g., SQL), which are highly flexible and also offer basic statistical functions. For simple analyses, statistics, or filtering (selections), queries or lists are sufficient. For more complex requirements, such as regression analyses, extrapolations, or multivariate methods, it is recommended to use specialized statistical software.

Since direct data access can be complicated, in practice the required data is exported from the application (in this case, e.g., the medical software) and then imported into database software, a spreadsheet, or statistical software for analysis. For data protection reasons, the data should be exported without address information. We recommend contacting the manufacturer directly to inquire how the required data can be exported into a common format (e.g., CSV, XLS, DBF, or XML). However, this process and the import into the analysis application must be repeated whenever the data changes or when current data is needed.

A similar challenge is faced, for example, by the Institute of General Medicine at Hannover Medical School with the project “Routine Data from General Practitioner Information Systems – Export, Analysis, and Preparation for Health Services Research,” in which DURIA data was also analyzed.