PowerTrials Integration Into the EHR at MedStar

As part of the MedStar Health commitment to research across the system, we are proud to announce the launch of PowerTrials within our electronic health record (EHR).

PowerTrials is a new module within MedConnect that integrates current research studies into clinical care through a unidirectional connection with OnCore, our clinical trial management system (CTMS). This connection allows for clinicians to access information about a patient’s participation in a MedStar Health or Georgetown clinical trial, as well as information about the study, in one location when in the EHR. The plans for this stage of integration was announced at the Fall 2017 MHRI Town Halls and has gone live as of February 1, 2018.

Key functionalities of PowerTrials, which enhance patient safety, include:

• Clinicians have awareness of their patient's research participation via an “on study” flag on the demographic Banner Bar
• Clinicians can view the research study description and recruitment information in PowerChart at the point of care and can take the study information into consideration when caring for the patient; while most patient participation in research does not overlap with their routine clinical care, any questions during the course of the patient’s treatment may be directed to the point of contact listed in the research study information, located in the Clinical Research tab
• Study contact information for the investigator and coordinator, which can be used in the Message Center, will enhance non-urgent communication between the clinical and research teams
• Automated alerts will be sent to the research team’s Message Center when a research patient comes into the Emergency Department or inpatient admission
• An auditor/monitor workflow is available to ensure HIPAA compliant access for study monitors and auditors

Thank you to all who have been a part of launching these new systems to help support research at MedStar. For more information about PowerTrials, please contact research@medstar.net.