REDCap: Easy creation of data management systems, plus a lot more

Abstract

REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) provides easy-to-use methods for non-programmers to quickly create a web-based data management system. Project owners use GUI- and spreadsheet-driven functionality that allows one to create a complete project in minutes. Projects have access to a wealth of functionality: Branching logic, calculated fields, and data validity checks during data entry; a survey component for data entry done by non data managers; data import, reporting and export tools; simple online analysis views; and a complete audit log.

REDCap can also do much more: Help with scheduling patient visits; support multi-institution projects through data access groups; enhance data quality through double data entry and data checking; protect electronic protected health information (ePHI) by protecting identifiers throughout the system; interoperate with other systems through an Application Programmer Interface (API), and just about anything else through a plugin architecture and custom code.

REDCap was developed by and is actively maintained by Vanderbilt University (http://www.project-redcap.org). It is in use by more than three hundred institutions worldwide, including the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (Indiana CTSI), which makes REDCap available to all partner institutions. Within the Indiana CTSI, REDCap has more than 520 active users working in more than 290 active projects, primarily on the IUPUI campus. REDCap is available for little or no cost to all Indiana University faculty and staff and is an excellent tool for leveraging shared resources for increased efficiency.