Data integration

Data Integration has become a major (and unsolved) challenge in the realm of clinical trials. As the means to electronically capture and store the data from clinical trials in large databases became easy the data started pouring in from several sources and different formats.

For example, the use of third party applications like IVRS, ePRO, CDMS, CTMS and AERS systems is a great challenge since they could come from different vendors and use their own internal proprietary data formats.

Another key area is laboratory data integration. Often the lab data comes from a LIMS or a data dump from the lab. This data has to be integrated with rest of the trial data. There is also a temporal dissociation between clinical data and lab data.

Often the issue becomes more challenging due to anonymization or coding. Each patient has to be identified by the same unique identifier across different systems to make integration feasible.

In the next couple of posts we will discuss about CDISC and the emergence of standards to support data integration.