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Call for tenders
A document incorporating all the needs of the three hospitals was created (annex C) and
distributed to four companies specialized in health informatics technology; Gerfo, Oracle,
Medisolution and MBS. Subsequent to presentations made by these four firms and after
consulting with the Information Technology Department of the Jewish General Hospital, it was
decided that Oracle was best suited to design and program the SCS tool. Oracle was selected
because they presented the best proposal and possessed the requisite expertise in the medical
field.
Design of SCS
Medical information identified to be important from the first phase of the study required
integration into the SCS application. A steering committee was formed with representatives
from Oracle, the hospital Information Technology Department, the ED research division, ED
data management systems and the SCS study coordinator. Personnel from Oracle began the tool
development by first analyzing the ED data environment in terms of data collection and it’s
management. A prototype of the tool was then produced. Close collaboration between Oracle
and the steering committee continued throughout the development of the application (format,
functionality, performance, etc.). After weeks of programming and format adjustment, SCS took
its final form (annex D). Extensive data validation was made to assure quality and integrity of
the information being delivered. Project Progress Reports (annex E) were made by Oracle as
part of their commitment to both the project timeline and the budget. Development, testing and
validation extended over a period of 5 months.
In its final form, the SCS application could best be described as a secure, rapid web-based
application accessible from any computer with Internet access. The SCS application was
developed to maximize user friendliness, reliability and security through a 128-bit level of
encryption.
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