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Sustainability considerations for clinical and translational research informatics infrastructure

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2018

Jihad S. Obeid*
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA
Peter Tarczy-Hornoch
Affiliation:
Department of Biomedical Informatics and Medical Education, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
Paul A. Harris
Affiliation:
Department of Biomedical Informatics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
William K. Barnett
Affiliation:
Regenstrief Institute, Inc., Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
Nicholas R. Anderson
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health Sciences, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, USA
Peter J. Embi
Affiliation:
Regenstrief Institute, Inc., Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA
William R. Hogan
Affiliation:
Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
Douglas S. Bell
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Leslie D. McIntosh
Affiliation:
Research Data Alliance-US, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, USA
Boyd Knosp
Affiliation:
Institute for Clinical and Translational Science, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
Umberto Tachinardi
Affiliation:
Department of Biostatistics & Medical Informatics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA
James J. Cimino
Affiliation:
Informatics Institute, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
Firas H. Wehbe
Affiliation:
Department of Preventive Medicine, Division of Health and Biomedical Informatics, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA
*
*Address for correspondence: J. S. Obeid, MD, 135 Cannon St., Suite 405, MSC200, Charleston, SC 29425, Department of Public Health Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA. Email: jobeid@musc.edu
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Abstract

A robust biomedical informatics infrastructure is essential for academic health centers engaged in translational research. There are no templates for what such an infrastructure encompasses or how it is funded. An informatics workgroup within the Clinical and Translational Science Awards network conducted an analysis to identify the scope, governance, and funding of this infrastructure. After we identified the essential components of an informatics infrastructure, we surveyed informatics leaders at network institutions about the governance and sustainability of the different components. Results from 42 survey respondents showed significant variations in governance and sustainability; however, some trends also emerged. Core informatics components such as electronic data capture systems, electronic health records data repositories, and related tools had mixed models of funding including, fee-for-service, extramural grants, and institutional support. Several key components such as regulatory systems (e.g., electronic Institutional Review Board [IRB] systems, grants, and contracts), security systems, data warehouses, and clinical trials management systems were overwhelmingly supported as institutional infrastructure. The findings highlighted in this report are worth noting for academic health centers and funding agencies involved in planning current and future informatics infrastructure, which provides the foundation for a robust, data-driven clinical and translational research program.

Information

Type
Implementation, Policy and Community Engagement
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - SA
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the same Creative Commons licence is included and the original work is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use.
Copyright
© The Association for Clinical and Translational Science 2018
Figure 0

Table 1 The groups of components and major headings that were identified by the workgroup

Figure 1

Fig. 1 (a) Distribution in percent of respondents for locus of control across component groups of infrastructure. (b) Distribution in percent of respondents for sustainability models across different the component groups (n=42). IT,: Information Technology; CIO, Chief Information Officer; CTMS, Clinical Trials Management Systems; EHR, Electronic Health Records.

Figure 2

Table 2 Number of respondents (with %) for each category of components and their selections for locus of control: Informatics, Research Office, and/or IT Department. Total n=42

Figure 3

Table 3 Number of respondents (with %) for each category of components and their selections for sustainability options: institutional infrastructure, fee-for-service, and/or grant support. Total n=42

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Table S1

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Table S2

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