The CRIS Shared Resource serves as both a medical informatics and as a.service core. It consists of four main components: the Massey Cancer Center Information System (MCCIS), the Automated Cancer Extraction (ACE) Application, the Clinical Trials Eligibility Database (CTED), and the clinical research database system (Oncore?). With the exception of Oncore?, each component has been developed at VCU and is linked both technologically in terms of interrelated data sources and software as well as functionally in terms of personnel and services provided. The system design is based on inter-operability and community standards, with potential extensibility a strong development consideration. The core data come from linkage of multiple electronic sources across the VCU health care system including: inpatient and outpatient facilities, and the MCC In addition, primary data entered by research staff are a component of the CTED and Oncore?. The data from the core are available and downloadable both as source documents (such as original surgical pathology reports) and as analyzable datasets developed by core personnel to answer specific research questions. In addition to the data, consultative and analytic services are provided through this Shared Resource. These services range from providing population numbers for grant preparation to linkage and analysis of complex data sets developed in response to investigator requests. The MCCIS is the oldest component of the core, originally developed in 1998, with the linkage of VCU claims data for inpatient and outpatient services. The MCCIS serves as the primary component providing analysis services, linking and utilizing data from the MCCIS and the other three core components for these analyses. The ACE application is the newest component and was implemented in December of 2006. ACE serves as the initial processing system for screening messages for cancer relevance and for storage of all electronic sources from the VCUHS and linking the data to CTED and the hospital cancer registry. The most recent SQL Server version of CTED was implemented in April of 2007. The commercial application used for administrative and clinical research in tracking of oversight and clinical trials activity was implemented in 2005. Currently, integration and equivalency of Oncore? with the other three components is being developed to provide autouploading of key information such as demographics, as well as direct access to source documentation from the other three components of CRIS for research staff while in the Oncore? environment.
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