Modus Operandi REDCap Consultations

Our Intake Process
Requests for specific REDCap consults are typically received via two ways: via the REDCap support ticketing system or direct contact with either the REDCap Administrator or the Services manager. We receive a wide variety of requests, from vague ones (like “I need help building my project”) to more detailed ones. Regardless of level of detail, we can always have a conversation about your request.

After receiving a request, we will typically schedule a phone call or in person meeting to discuss the details of the request. 

The more detail you initially provide the quicker we can get you a proper estimate.  

Below is a list of typical questions, we ask during our initial intake for a REDCap consult:

  • What do you need help with?
    • Form design
      1. Do you have any documents to share with us?
      2. Do you need any custom formatting?
    • Advanced calculations
      1. Do you have description of the necessary calculations?
      2. Does this involve a lookup table?
    • Project setup
      1. Do you have a study protocol we can look at?
      2. Have you started a project already?
    • Custom training 
      1. Do you have a specific training session in mind?
      2. Who is the audience?
      3. Where do you want this training to be held?
    • External Modules 
      1. Do you need a new module not currently available in our REDCap installation?
      2. Do you need help with an existing module?
    • Mobile Apps
      1. Do you know which of the two available apps you need?
        1. REDCap Mobile App: Offline data capture meant for study teams
        2. MyCap: Data capture done directly from a participants device
      2. Do you need help with setup or troubleshooting?
  • What’s your timeline for the consult?

After this initial intake meeting, we will do our best to supply you with an estimate as soon as possible. If your request falls under our normal support activities, we will help you for free.  

If you agree with the supplied estimate and provided us with the right administrative details (e.g. budget information, IRB approval if needed), we’ll put you in our queue. Our queue works on a “first in, first out” principle and consults will get assigned based on available bandwidth in the team. If you have a preference for a specific team member, we can accommodate that. However, depending on availability it might take longer for the consult to start.

The Consult

For most of our consult work, our team works with an iterative approach according to the Agile methodology. Instead of taking an assignment and delivering a result at a preset point in time, we communicate frequently with you and will deliver multiple intermediate results.

We’ve found that this methodology yields the best results in the often nebulous world of clinical research.  

However, this approach does require that you (as the subject matter expert) are available to answer any questions. The end result of the consult is a tool that you will have to work with, so we want to make sure it meets your expectations. 

We strive to deliver the highest quality end result at the end of any consult.

After the Consult
At some point, the consultant will ask for final confirmation that you are satisfied with the work done. We do this to free up that consultant for other consults.

One of the hallmarks of the REDCap platform, is the ability to change things on the fly. If you feel uncomfortable changing things, we can discuss strategies to mitigate that. 

Possible solutions are extra training, specific documentations or agreeing to an ongoing support model.

However, we do have limited bandwidth and therefore will not do certain things that you can reasonably do yourself.

Examples of such activities are:

  • “Running your study” akin to a research coordinator. 
    However, we can refer you to our Research Coordinator Center. They can assist you with that type of work.
  • User management
  • Exporting or cleaning the data for you
  • Analyzing the data
  • Categorizing the data

We will let you know if we can or cannot do a certain activity.