Standardizing Data Screening Tools

Abstract

With today's continuing challenge of processing more data with fewer people in less time, many companies in the pharmaceutical industry are developing standard tools and processing components to facilitate speed, productivity, and efficiency in data processing.

Traditionally, programmers in the Clinical Information Systems (CIS) Department of Merck Research Laboratories had an individual set of screening tools available, developed, and maintained for each active drug project. Each set required programming support and maintenance by a dedicated programmer. Redundancy and inefficient use of manpower was obvious.

CIS has over the past two years developed, implemented, and maintained a set of standard database queries which can be accessed by multiple projects representing several therapeutic areas within its clinical research area. These queries provide users with the same ability to electronically screen data for consistency, completeness, and correctness as with the traditional method described above, but the standard query system provides maximum capability to many projects with the programming maintenance required for only one project. Suggestions for new queries and enhancements to existing ones are discussed by all project leaders in the user community at monthly meetings. These ideas are shared and discussed relative to the impact on all therapeutic areas, and program specifications are fully developed before any programming effort takes place.

Optimizing program query usage while minimizing programming effort provides better screening tools for the user community with minimal maintenance by the programming staff. Better screening tools improve data integrity, processing speed, and data analysis, while optimizing available resources. New projects have immediate access to existing screening tools. Moreover, the tools can be used consistently across projects as personnel are shifted to accommodate changing work priorities, and new users can be brought up to speed by using these generic queries as a learning tool. Therefore, standardizing screening tools has greatly enhanced Merck's ability to meet the challenge of processing more data with fewer people in less time.