January 2006

RCS simplifies data collection process

>>> Power of the Internet tapped for collaborative research

For many people, the Internet is a confusing and sometimes frustrating jumble of tech, game and porn sites, interspersed with blogs and interrupted by pop‑up and drop‑down ads. Yet, for health care researchers, the power of the Internet has meant a revolution in the way data is collected, accessed and disseminated.

In a recent issue of the Journal of Medical Internet Research, Monica Murero, PhD, of the International Institute of Infonomics in The Netherlands, stated: "The introduction and popularization of the Internet is changing the way health‑care providers and the general public search for and retrieve medical information."

It's also changing the way researchers compile and analyze health care data, since it acts as a global network of data collection points. Researchers in one part of the world can input data in their own offices and have that information added immediately to the pool of data streaming in from all other parts.

As noted in the Journal of the American Medical Association, "Researchers who collaborate on clinical research studies from diffuse locations need a convenient, inexpensive, secure way to record and manage data. The Internet, with its World Wide Web, provides a vast network that enables researchers with diverse types of computers and operating systems anywhere in the world to log data through a common interface." ("Use of a secure Internet Web site for collaborative medical research" by WW Marshall, JAMA Oct. 11, 2000)

For the first time in history, researchers are able to conduct large‑scale analyses of patient population data acquired and pooled across sites around the world. That's what The Biomedical Informatics Research Network (BIRN), is doing in the neurology field. BIRN constructs and maintains an information infrastructure ‑‑ also known as "cyberinfrastructure" ‑‑ that allows researchers thousands of miles apart to collaborate.

"By bringing together a large team of researchers and marshaling information technology resources, we expect to help clinicians diagnose and treat Alzheimer's disease and other disorders more quickly than the current approach allows, where smaller laboratory groups work mostly on their own," said Dr. Mark H. Ellisman, director of the BIRN Coordinating Center (CC), which resides at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine in La Jolla.

RCS (Research & Clinical Science) is conducting a similar project for the chiropractic profession. Its cyberinfrastructure allows field doctors to become collaborating researchers, uploading data from patients and research volunteers into the global database maintained by the company in a Network Operations Center in southern California.

There are other similarities between the two programs as well. BIRN boasts that researchers can access the program "from a user‑friendly interface on their desktop," an advance that makes participation in research accessible to far more people. The same is true with RCS, which allows doctors to use their existing office computers to quickly and easily upload all research data. In addition, with RCS, the web‑based technology even assigns unique ID numbers for each volunteer and generates a fully individualized Vitality Wellness Index report for each volunteer, which is emailed directly to the doctor.

There are, of course, a few very significant differences in the two programs.

Most noticeably, BIRN receives huge grants from the National Institutes of Health ($32.8 million last year alone) while RCS is funded by private supporters as well as membership fees from participating doctors. Yet, the biggest differentiation between the two is that RCS deals solely with researching the impact of vertebral subluxation on health and the vital role chiropractors have to play in the wellbeing of all people.

So far, RCS has been successful in generating a great deal of interest among doctors of chiropractic, who are motivated to join RCS for different reasons. All recognize the need for the scientific research necessary to provide evidence‑based care to patients. Some also realize that being an IRB‑approved clinical investigator is an ideal way to boost their professional credibility. Others anticipate that their interactions with hundreds of volunteers will allow them the opportunity to help many more people discover chiropractic. They'll be contributing vital research as their practices grow.

But, no matter what motivates them to explore RCS, they share the desire for a simple‑to‑use system that doesn't require additional equipment or take up a great deal of staff time. That desire is what spurred RCS to offer a streamlined version of its data collection process, using the power of the Internet to link doctors to the RCS database.

Now, research is as easy as connecting to the RCS website, where doctors simply input their findings for each volunteer who has already filled out the web‑based Self‑Reported Quality of Life study on his or her home or office computer. All the data is correlated by the RCS computer network, ready to be analyzed by the RCS International Scientific Advisory Panel.

Like the BIRN project, the RCS project allows member researchers to participate using a "user‑friendly interface on their desktop." But although the process is streamlined, the quality of the research is never compromised. To make sure the highest caliber of research is maintained, every doctor of chiropractic who engages in the research must undergoes an evaluation by an independent Institutional Review Board and is IRB approved. Furthermore, all RCS Authorized Clinical Investigators must complete a two‑day training program in California. Upon successful completion of the program, doctors receive a Fellowship in Health Outcomes Research certificate.

RCS is clearly using the power of the Internet to the fullest, bringing to life its vision of a network of thousands of DCs around the world compiling standardized data on millions of people including both individuals who do and do not use chiropractic. With that information, we will finally have the "proof" to quantify the devastating impact of vertebral subluxations on health, and position ourselves as an essential part of everyone's wellness program.

(Dr. David A. Jackson is chief executive officer of Research and Clinical Science ‑‑ RCS ‑‑ a private sector research program exploring issues of subluxation correction and chiropractic care as they relate to health and wellness. Previously, he served as president of the Chiropractic Leadership Alliance and Creating Wellness Alliance and was owner/operator of several private practice offices in California and Idaho that specialized in high‑volume, family wellness‑based care. For more information on RCS, call 800‑909‑1354 or 480‑303‑1694, or visit the RCS website at www.rcsprogram.com. Doctors of chiropractic may log on to a special limited‑access area of the site by using the username DC1 and password RESEARCH.)