Choosing the right solution
Integrated Solutions
CRAB data collection can be automated through SQL messaging protocols between the CRAB database and internal hospital IT systems. CRAB IT engineers will ideally scope the systems and data available, as in each case the variables used by CRAB for risk adjusted analysis have a series of surrogates in the event of data not being available from a primary source. However, as a broad guide, the following systems are the most likely to act as the primary sources for CRAB data capture (in descending order of importance):
- Theatre (for basic information about operations taking place)
- PAS (for patient demographics)
- Coding (of whatever sort, to provide details of OPCS10 coding)
- Laboratory (for details of blood results and infections)
- Pharmacy (for details of prescribed drugs)
- Nursing (if any, for details of Pulse, Blood Pressure and co-morbidities)
All work begins with a detailed technical specification for scoping availability and extracting data, and C-CI’s engineers can help to populate this as well as producing the protocols for implementation.
If the issue of clinical workload is problematic, our staff can collect and enter the data on the Hospital’s behalf. This is a low-cost monthly subscription service, and is done on site on a specific, backed-up machine. Hardware and data are kept on-site and identifiable information remains the property of the hospital. Our staff are appointed with specific contractual terms and conditions to guarantee data security and patient confidentiality.
There is a 3 month lead-in time to identify appropriate staff and hardware for this option, with reporting available by the end of the third month. A small down-payment secures the service and licence for a year from the start of reporting. The service is subsequently delivered at a monthly rate, chargeable from the month that reporting is to become available.
Contact us to find out more about how we can produce invaluable, real-time quality reports tailored for your organisation with minimal effort.
Alternative data capture systems and additional data collection
As an alternative, or supplementary approach to maximise data accuracy, CRAB provides a robust and secure architecture that enables data to be entered manually through web screens, PDAs and tablet PCs as well as automatically collecting data through customised data import modules where connection to hospital systems is possible. CRAB Informatics have developed synchronisation software for PDAs and Tablet PCs to allow them to work without a continuous network connection.
CRAB may be extended to collect any other data required in the hospital and its advanced reporting services used to produce customised reports to satisfy regulatory and commercial requirements (such as reporting to Healthcare Commission, HSE, Monitor etc), or new developments in best practice, such as the WHO Safer Surgery Checklist.
Economies of scale in staff training and data entry may be achieved if a unified approach to data capture is employed. Extending CRAB is straightforward and with a centralised deployment it can be possible to introduce data collection incrementally to new areas without disruption or service interruption.
