INTRODUCTION Data is one of the Department of Defense’s (DoD) greatest assets yet is often difficult to integrate, abstract, and align with operational needs. To offset this problem, the Musculoskeletal Injury Rehabilitation Research for Operational Readiness (MIRROR) organization was created to deliver data and analytics support to the military health system (MHS). Headquartered at the Uniformed Services University (USU), MIRROR conducts studies requiring epidemiological data, investigator initiated trials, and prospective randomized multi-site clinical trials.
METHODS MIRROR has identified a primary need for two accessible, extensible, and DoD compliant data and analytics solutions: a solution enabling data to be electronically captured and managed, and a solution enabling sophisticated reporting and analytics of this data. MIRROR has worked with stakeholders to identify and support end-user, information security, and human protections requirements. MIRROR considered a range of data solutions including Microsoft Access, Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap), and Qualtrics as well as analytics solutions including Microsoft Power BI and Tableau.
RESULTS Central to the MIRROR data and analytics infrastructure implementation is REDCap managed in collaboration with USU Information Technology. REDCap is a secure web application for building and managing survey instruments, clinical assessment items, and research databases built on non-proprietary technologies including PHP, JavaScript, and MySQL. It is hosted on a USU server with DoD Authority to Operate for compliance. Microsoft Power BI and Tableau are being tested for interoperability.
DISCUSSION and CONCLUSION Within the MHS, data and analytics activities are commonly coordinated on an ad hoc basis using solutions like Microsoft Excel. This approach often acts as a barrier to efficient research and fails to scale. The development of a shared data and analytics infrastructure across MIRROR projects enables program information and insights to be communicated in an efficient, timely, and approachable manner. Ultimately, this allows MIRROR research to be advanced in a data-driven way.