REDCap Geek Out!

So the latest thing I'm geeking out about is this free software called REDCap. It looks like the answer to a lot of pesky problems my lab always grapples with, in the areas of data collection and data management. Thanks to Francesca Trane of the UCI Working Memory and Plasticity Lab (P.I. Susanne Jaeggi) for telling us about it. When REDCap changes your life, you can thank Francesca. (And Vanderbilt.) (And the NIH.)

What is REDCap?

It's a free, secure, online app that you can use to organize your data and control who has access to it. You can also create surveys in REDCap, and send them out and collect the data right there in the system. And you can create forms (like consent forms and data collection forms) and either enter the data directly into them on a phone or tablet in the field, or collect your data on paper and bring it back to the lab to enter on a computer.

Here's how REDCap's homepage describes it: "REDCap is a secure web application for building and managing online surveys and databases. While REDCap can be used to collect virtually any type of data (including 21 CFR Part 11, FISMA, and HIPAA-compliant environments), it is specifically geared to support online or offline data capture for research studies and operations."

Why is REDCap better than what I'm using now? 

Well I don't know what you're using now, but it's a whole lot better than what I was using, which was Excel spreadsheets on networked computers with backup storage. REDCap is better in a BUNCH of ways.

1. Dual Data Entry!

The thing I'm most excited about is called dual data entry. In my lab, most of our data are collected with pen and paper by undergraduate research assistants at schools and museums. (We also make videos as backup, but the paper data sheets are the primary form of the data) then the RAs come back to the lab and enter the data from the paper data sheets into a computer. 

I've been concerned for a long time about how we could catch any errors that the RAs might make in entering the data, and at one point I developed this system where two RAs independently enter the same data into identical Excel spreadsheets, and then a third Excel spreadsheet compares the first two sheets and flags any discrepancies. 

Which sounds like a good idea, except that there are always a bunch of discrepancies because one or both of the RAs have done something boneheaded to the spreadsheet, like adding or deleting a row or a column, or selecting and shifting a range of cells, pasting values when they should paste formulas, or vice versa . . . you get the idea. 

Well, it turns out that REDCap has this feature called Dual Data Entry, where it makes that whole process automatic! First, it lets me create fillable forms for the data sheets (which are better than Excel spreadsheets because the RAs can't change the fields, they can only enter data), and then it lets me assign two separate RAs to enter the same data, and it compares the resulting data and flags any discrepancies until I or a grad student can check them. Yay! And of course the data, once entered, are not just sitting on the computer in an Excel spreadsheet, they're all in this secure, HIPAA-compliant REDCap app. 

Speaking of which . . .

2. It lets me store data (including protected health information) online in a way that is secure and HIPAA-compliant.

In my lab, we test kids. And we are super careful to keep their to their names, addresses, phone numbers and other PHI (protected health information) secure. The way we've had to do that up to now is to keep our participant database on a computer that is not connected to the internet. But that also means that I can't access it from anywhere except my actual, physical lab space, and if that computer dies, we could lose all that information. (We can back it up on a USB drive, so I'm not that concerned about losing it, but it feels less than ideal to just have it sitting on a non-networked computer on a desk in the lab. ) Anyway, now we can upload those data to REDCap and they're securely stored, in the cloud, and I can access them from anywhere. And the same is true, of course, with the study data.

3. It lets us collect data by tablet and mobile app.

REDCap also has a mobile version-- so we don't even have to send our RAs out into the field with paper forms anymore. They can use tablets that have the data sheets on them, and they can type the data directly into the forms using the tablets. It looks like we'll be able to do this with both consent forms and data collection forms, eliminating a bunch of paper and potential data-entry errors.

4. I can give RAs different levels of access to projects.

So maybe when you read No. 3, above, you thought, "But wait-- if you put everything on a tablet and let the RAs take it to schools and museums, what if they lose the tablet? Then will all your data and all the protected health information be compromised?" No, it won't! Because within the app, I can give each user (that is, each RA) only as much access as they need in order to do their job. I can give a person access to some parts of the data and not others; I can check a box to show or hide the fields with protected health information; and I can even set expiration dates on RAs' access to the data, so that (for example) they will automatically lose access at the end of the term, or when they graduate.

5. I can create and administer surveys right from the app. 

And when people return them, the data land right back in the app, all neat and organized. Seriously, it makes me want to design a bunch of survey studies immediately.

6. All the consent forms, data collection forms, data, and participant information for a single project are kept securely together and organized.

Right now, we do all these things separately. We print out consent forms, the RAs take them out to schools and museums, parents sign them, and then the RAs bring them back the the lab and enter the information into a participant database on a (non-networked) computer. We print out data collection forms, the RAs take them to the testing sites and fill them out while testing the kids, and then the RAs bring those forms back to the lab and enter the data into spreadsheets on different computers . . . it all seemed fine until I saw how much better organized it could all be on REDCap. Now I want to transfer everything to REDCap immediately.

7. Did I mention it's FREE? 

Seriously! Apparently it was developed by Vanderbilt with funding from NIH, as a way of supporting researchers. But you can't just download it... you have to go to the REDCap website and look up your institution and find out if someone at your university is already using it, and then you can probably piggyback on their set-up (it's all explained on the website). At my university, REDCap is managed by the Institute for Clinical and Translational Science, so I had to go through them to get it set up for my lab. You'll have to use the search function on the REDCap website to find out who's handling it at your university. And (at UCI at least), everyone who is going to use it has to get the officially trained to use it the Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (which only takes about an hour.)

8. It's easy to use.

I'm just getting started with REDCap, but so far it seems extremely easy to use. For example, to create a new project, you click "NEW PROJECT." Then it asks you if you want to use a template, upload an existing project or create one from scratch. Easy peasy. Everything is self-explanatory, but there are also written and video tutorials to answer any question you can think of, and you can always email an administrator, too. I don't know who actually developed it, but they did a great job from a UX (user experience) perspective.  I'm having fun exploring the app and seeing all the cool things it can do. 

And now you can, too. Here are a couple of links to get you started:

REDCap FAQs

REDCap Knowledge Bank (a wiki run by the REDCap folks at UC-San Francisco)

Enjoy!