SCIENTIFIC REPORT 2004 - Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center

S H A R E D R E S O U R C E S
I N F O R M A T I C S
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
Dido Franceschi, M.D.
Associate Professor of Surgery
PURPOSE
The Division of Informatics at UM/Sylvester
facilitates the integration of information to
support patient care, research, education, and
administration. The division is composed of
two subdivisions: Systems Development and
Support and Network Management and Personal
Computing.
SERVICES
Systems Development and Support
The Systems Development team conducts
technical research and development to meet
UM/Sylvester’s short- and long-term requirements.
It also delivers software solutions in
the areas of research, administration, and web
development. The team’s primary objective is
to increase productivity and efficiency in various
areas of the cancer center by providing:
1) Systems analysis and design services.
2) Database development, administration, and
support.
3) Programming of quality computer applications.
4) Development of Intranet web sites that provide
employees with organized, readily accessible
information in a central repository and
secured web-based applications.
5) Project management and implementation,
which includes technical and user documentation
and user training.
6) Expedited document processing via electronic
forms that are accessible through the web.
The group provides infrastructure support with
web-enabled database systems as follows:
Research: The essential support needed by
UM/Sylvester investigators is provided by the
Systems Development team for the management
of clinical trials and the protocol approval process;
tracking of patient accrual data; collection of research
personnel time and generation of invoices
for protocol billing; management of investigatorinitiated
clinical trial patient data; administration
of web accessible protocols and related documents;
secure dissemination of reports to investigators;
and management of patient tissue banks
including a web interface that allows investigators
to search the tissue bank and request specimens
according to their investigational interests.
Administration: A centralized database system has
been developed that unifies information from the
various administrative divisions and facilitates the
management and sharing of information. The
database and related applications provide functionality
for the management of UM/Sylvester’s
members as well as profiles of their research interests
and involvement, investigator’s published
materials, grants, and research funded projects,
shared resource facilities, and human resources.
Network Management and Personal
Computing
The Network Management team provides infrastructure
support for cancer center connectivity,
central computing hardware, and firewall security.
The network group has four major functions:
1) Integrate information systems and communications
for the research, administrative, and
clinical areas of the cancer center.
2) Support the operation of a center-wide
Intranet with defined security.
3) Support connectivity to campus networks
including access to wide-area networks.
4) Assist with hardware and software installation
and support.
5) Provide system backup, disaster recovery, and
high availability.
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UM/Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center Scientific Report 2004