DEWARS

Overview

Data Exploration, Warehousing & Archiving Repository Solutions (DEWARS) is a program devoted to catalyzing clinical, translational, and population research at USC by integrating and harmonizing patient records from our clinical partners and other research databases. It is a co-investment of the research, clinical, and academic communities of Keck Medicine of USC, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, and in the future, Los Angeles County Department of Health Services. Under the direction of Daniella Meeker, PhD, and the Clinical Research Informatics group within the Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute (SC CTSI), the DEWARS team is working to create enterprise-wide infrastructure, governance, and services for clinical and research data.

What is Available Now?

• Study Planning; Self-service applications for identifying cohorts of potentially eligible patients will be supported as part of the DEWARS project. The i2b2 platform is available for searching data stored in the DEWARS technical infrastructure. Other applications and portals will be available for searching federated research networks, including participants in the Los Angeles Data Resource Collaborative.
• Screening and Recruiting: In order to recruit patients to participant in planned clinical studies, study teams will require patient contact information or access to charts via Medical Record Information for screening. Health system staff will provide investigators access to data in accordance with local polies regarding access to data for research purposes and under approval of the health systems’ privacy boards. IRB information will be cross-referenced to ensure the appropriate approvals have been granted.

Request Access

To request an account in the i2b2 cohort discovery tool, please contact the ITS Help Desk (323-442-4444; HelpDesk at med.usc.edu) and ask for the ticket to be assigned to "CRI Research." Upon account creation, you will receive an email with log-in information and instructions to get started.

What Will Be Available in the Future?

The DEWARS team is currently working on implementing the technology, workflows, and data cleansing procedures that will support the fully functional data warehouse and efficient services for researchers (target completion December 2016). We expect to provide the following additional services:

• Data Development and Analysis via Concierge: Beyond participant recruitment, data in DEWARS can also be leveraged for research on longitudinal and/or large-scale clinical data, as in epidemiological studies. Full-time concierge services will be available to facilitate data extraction and more complex data linkage activities.
• Integration of New Data: The DEWARS staff will be responsible for integration of data from new data sources, maintaining data quality and adjudicating data quality issues. This includes removing and merging duplicate records, and removing protected health information from records as required.

Infrastructure

The technical infrastructure for DEWARS data warehousing is the Oracle Enterprise Health Analytics (EHA) platform, which supports complex multi-source data integration and analysis. A suite of reporting and visualization tools will allow investigators to effectively use data from the data warehouse. These applications include the Clinical Trial Management System, the i2b2 cohort discovery tool, and analytic applications.

The service infrastructure consists of both centralized support staff and embedded staff in Keck, CHLA, and, in the future, DHS. Embedded staff members are familiar with local practices, policies, and workflows and serve as informatics liaisons between the research community and the clinical operations community. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Projects

Los Angeles Data Resource (LADR)