About Choice of IT solutions

At Oslo University Hospital (OUS), OUS-based research studies, quality registries and long-term research registries with broad consent must use OUS-approved IT solutions for collecting and storing data. The use assumes that the code list (link between study-specific ID number and birth number/ name/address) is stored in the Medinsight "code list registry".

For quality registries, and for long-term research registries with broad consent, the use of Medinsight, eReg Editor or MRS is permitted. These solutions allow the code list to be stored internally within the solutions.

The choice of registry solution will primarily depend on whether the registry collects data locally, at one hospital only, or whether data need to be collected from several hospitals. The latter solution primarily requires an Internet-based registry solution, or a so-called eCRF solution. This is typically used for multicenter studies and for long-term quality or research registries that collect data from several institutions.

Costs vary between the different solutions. Some solutions are free to use, others are quite expensive. The difference in price depends mainly on whether the researcher/clinician designs his or her own registry or whether this service is purchased by a specialist.

Medinsight, Viedoc, MRS and WebCRF are customized solutions where specialists create the registry on behalf of the customer. Other solutions are less expensive do-it-yourself tools. Some registry solutions are best suited for less complex projects/registries, while other solutions are designed for use with highly complex registries which require special adaptations, see Choice of Registry Solution.

For certain types of registries, special procedures apply:

For setting up national medical quality registries, contact the national service environment in HSØ. The national website contains a lot of important information.
For clinical drug trials, contact the Clinical Trials Unit.

Advice and guidance in relation to registries fall under the regional research support responsibility of OUS, so you do not need to be affiliated with OUS to use these services. Contact the Department of Registry Support for more information.