Modus Operandi BMI Services Consultations

Our Intake Process
We have a centralized intake process in which our services manager will try to scope out your specific needs. We receive a wide variety of requests, from vague ones (like “I need data on diabetes”) 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 data extract:

  • Are you looking for a quote for a grant application or are you ready to go? 
  • Do you have IRB approval for this extract? 
  • Are you running a prospective or retrospective study?
  • Do you have UW budget number to pay for this work?
  • What’s your timeline?
  • What data would you like?
  • Identified vs deidentified?
  • Specify data types? (e.g. demographics, lab values, diagnoses, visit info)
  • How far back do you want to go?
  • How do you want us to identify your cohort?
  • Do you have inclusion or exclusion criteria?
  • Do you have specific time frames for us to look at?
  • In what form do you want the data delivered?
  • Options are:
    1. Flat file (csv)
    2. Ongoing report (in the UWMC SSRS platform)
    3. Custom REDCap project
    4. Direct transfer to your own server 

After this initial intake meeting, we will do our best to supply you with an estimate as soon as possible. However, for the more esoteric requests, there might be a back and forth to see if have the data available or if there are viable alternatives.

If you agree with the supplied estimate and provided us with the right administrative details (e.g. budget information, IRB approval in most cases), 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

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. Our team does have some general clinical expertise due to their exposure to clinical data every day. However, they might lack some of the specialized knowledge from your particular field of medicine.

Occasionally, it might happen that there is a dis-connect between what the team pulls from our clinical data warehouse and what you expect to see based of the electronic medical record. The reasons for this are myriad and often require back and forth between you and the team to properly solve.

We strive to get the highest quality data available for you at all times.

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 Time Data Extracts

We realize that you might have questions about your dataset after this point in time. We are happy to answer any questions you might have within reason. However, if your questions require a significant time investment on our part to figure out the right answers, then we do have to charge for that work. We will definitely let you know if this is the case and ask for your approval to do the extra work. Depending on our available bandwidth and the timing of your request, we’ll determine if we need to handle this as a follow up or a new consultation.

Ongoing Reports

It happens occasionally that a report we built fails or isn’t meeting your needs due to shifting priorities in your study.

Please talk to your consultant to see what can be done about the issue at hand. We’ll determine on an individual basis whether or not we need to treat this as a new consult.  

 

Long-term Reports

All the reports we built are depended on the existing IT infrastructure in the UW Medicine ecosystem. This is not a static environment and is subject to frequent changes. In general, we noticed that most long term reports will need some sort of maintenance every 1 to 2 years. We highly recommend that you budget some money for ongoing maintenance like this. We can recommend an amount based on your report if needed.

Occasionally, it happens that a report used for research “graduates” to a more operational role. The research IT group isn’t the right team anymore to keep supporting that report at that point in time. You will need to pivot support for that report to a more traditional IT department. We are happy to share any code with the other department and facilitate the transfer.