What is an electronic data capture system?

The electronic data capture system is a application stores the patient’s data gathered through clinical trials into the digitized format. It eases down the process of gathering, reviewing, and analyzing the data obtained from the clinical trials. The data is gathered on paper, transcript into the system, and lastly saved in an Electronic Case Report Form (eCRF). The system consists of multiple tools that help in collecting and transmitting data from the patients to the research and clinical laboratory.

A typical EDC system has a user-friendly interface, data validation element, and data reporting tool. The tool is most useful for clinical trials and research purposes to be used by biotechnology, pharmaceutical industries, data research organizations, etc.

Features of Electronic Data Capture Software

Many electronic data capture system vendors keep adding new features to their existing software to compliment the latest industry requirements. However, here are some common features users can find in electronic data capture systems.

1. Multisite Access: The system provides users with multiple site access of the data from different locations and systems. It allows researchers to view and analyze data from anywhere and anytime.
2. Regulatory Compliance: The regulatory compliance feature of the system checks for any violation of compliance throughout the data collection and analysis process. It ensures that the data is securely processed and collected and is compliant with various regulatory bodies such HIPAA.
3. Query Management: It also facilitates communication between the monitors and data operators with query management. The query feature systematically collects all the data queries generated within the software and has necessary tools to resolve these data queries.
4. Customized Data Form: EDC software has different types of tools to build the received data forms in different types and formats. This helps users to represent the information more accurately and precisely for further reference and Clinical Study Report (CSR).
5. Mobile-Friendly Interface: Many electronic data systems have mobile friendly interfaces allowing users to use the software from their smartphone to view the data and reports with much ease. The users need not rely on the software’s web versions as it can be easily accessed from smartphones, tablets, laptops, etc.
6. Data Cleaning: The data cleaning feature of the software outlines any type of data discrepancies within the saved data. It helps the analysts to eliminate or rectify any error before data is carried out for further procedure.
7. Third Party Integration: It can also be integrated with several other systems such as data analytics tools to streamline and automate the data analysis process and ensure data is free or errors for further analysis or reporting.
8. Audit Trail Functionality: The audit trail functionality feature helps users to track any modifications within the data. It helps in finding the actual source of changes and keeping the data safe from

The benefits of Electronic Data Capture Software

The best electronic data capture software provides users with innumerable benefits. Some benefits of EDC solutions are enumerated below.

1. Prompt Data Access: Real time access to data can help users save their valuable time. Since all the information and clinical study data is stored at one place, the users can easily access the data for further study and analysis.
2. Better Data Quality: The EDC software develops and stores electronic case report forms (eCRFs). This ensures that the information stored is accurate and free of data inconsistencies. Programmed edit checks within the software makes sure that inappropriate data is eliminated, and only valuable data is kept.
3. Data Integrity: The audit trail functionality present within the EDC system helps users in tracking any changes made within the database. It also helps to prevent data tampering with role-based permissions access.
4. Accelerates Further Study; The software allows the users to conduct further studies promptly. Within the software, the forms are created, data is transcripted, data queries are resolved quickly, and all this information is stored on a single platform. Therefore, the users can easily access the data from a single system to complete a particular report.
5. Prevents Data Loss: The EDC system keeps all the information in the digitized forms as compared to paper-based forms whose data can easily be altered or misplaced. Therefore, the software stores the data at a single centralized location and constantly backs up the data to prevent data theft in the future.

Types of Electronic Data Capture Software

There are three different types of EDC electronic data capture software for users to digitize data gathered from clinical study trials as given below.

1. Cloud Based Electronic Data Capture System: The cloud-based EDC software can be accessed and used through web applications from anywhere. The main benefit of using this software is that data can be stored and backed up on the cloud reducing the chances of data theft.
2. On-Premises Electronic Data Capture System: The on-premises EDC solution is a type of solution that can be operated from the businesses in house server. The users generally need to have access or permission to run the application.
3. Hybrid Electronic Data Capture System: The hybrid EDC software allows users to feed, view and analyze data through web while data is synced both on cloud and on-server.

Implementation of Electronic Data Capture Software

The best electronic data capture software can be implemented in the following steps.

1. Understanding the type of clinical data you need to store in databases.
2. Buy the EDC software that fits your budget and business needs.
3. Configure all the features to complement your clinical trial processes.
4. Synchronize and integrate all the existing eCRF data within the software.
5. Making all your team members with the software and how to collect and analyze the data in it.
6. You need to test run the system before substituting it with the old system to ensure smooth working.