Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC)

Client Situation
The Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC) is a non-profit organization that develops and supports global, platform-neutral data standards for the healthcare industry. Due to the increasing importance of standards implementation and compliance, CDISC’s programs and service offerings are under greater demand than ever before. To streamline operations and meet the needs of a wider customer base, Dr. Rebecca Kush, president and CEO of CDISC, asked Digital Infuzion in 2006 to develop a web-based online collaboration environment that would support and enhance CDISC’s business and data management activities.

The Solution: A Collaboration Portal Based on SharePoint™ Technology
Digital Infuzion developed and implemented an online collaboration portal tailored to the specific workflows and web application infrastructure of the CDISC environment.

Before, each of CDISC’s primary working groups (i.e., New Initiatives, User Networks, Internal Advisory Board, and Members Area) used different programs to schedule meetings, send emails, exchange business documents, and assign tasks. Moreover, CDISC personnel had to store Word documents in a common folder on the network, which did not provide a quick, clear view of a document’s changes or status over time, nor support easy document downloading. Access to and sharing of other types of critical business information—such as contact information and calendar updates—was limited and cumbersome. And because CDISC did not maintain a single, central database of information, mobile CDISC volunteers had to store the latest standards-related documentation on their own laptops. No disaster recovery plan or backup structure was provided.

Now, with a secure, organization-wide portal in place, CDISC personnel have a single point of access and storage for documentation, project management tasks, and contact information. Authorized personnel need only to connect to the Internet and sign into the portal to get a variety of information at their fingertips: news releases, project status reports, meeting reminders, contact information, document libraries, and working group blogs. In addition, Digital Infuzion serves CDISC by providing secure storage and back-ups of critical data.