2013 Volume 13 Issue 4 Pages 203-207
A medical information system comprising all departmental systems including electronic medical recording (EMR) system was implemented at Yokohama Medical Center in April 2010 following relocation to a new ward. Along with the complete computerization of healthcare operations, a clinical trial management system interlinked with the EMR system was also implemented for clinical trial operations. Through this system, the advantages of the medical information system are used to conduct clinical trial medicine equivalent to daily medical practice.
Issues for clinical trials involving hospitalized patients (inpatient clinical trials) include the difficulties of constant involvement of the clinical research coordinator (CRC), as is found in standard outpatient clinical trials, and ensuring that the staff members of each related department understand the trial content. In the present study, we constructed an inpatient clinical trial critical path that integrated the advantages of the critical trial management system utilized for outpatient clinical trials with the treatment critical path, which was a function of the EMR system “for implementing inpatient clinical trials”. As a result, information is smoothly disseminated and shared among the staff members of wards and departments related to the clinical trial, and high quality clinical trials can proceed even when a CRC is absent.
