Digitization of a nationwide medical survey in the health sector

When contact restrictions went into effect in 2020 due to Corona, a clinic in Munich was unable to continue its ongoing medical trial from one day to the next. Initially, improvisation was done by means of teleconferencing, but it was quickly realized that the subjects needed a digital solution in the form of a web platform to replace the physical course room.

Online Konferenz Plattform Individualsoftware Digitalisierung Web30

The clinic took the step into digitization and, with the support of BITS, implemented a web platform by means of which the study could be continued digitally. The study is composed of two groups of participants with different user groups, an intervention group with two different subject areas and a control group. Other user roles include the study center, which handles administrative user management, and the advisors, who manage and run the courses in each subject area.

Nationwide study centers

Started in Munich, later Germany-wide

Different user roles

From administration to control group

Online video conferencing

Digital video communication of the individual course participants

Challenge

BITS needed to find an effective solution to completely digitize all physical/real study execution requirements. At the same time, the new solution should be available quickly.

Participants in the study had previously met regularly in the real world in courses with different focuses, where they completed a wide variety of physical tasks. At the same time, certain participating groups did not know each other to ensure a clear separation between intervention and control groups. Questionnaires were completed regularly to document the progress of the study.

Another challenge was to meet the strict data protection requirements of a medical study and to process all data pseudonymously.

In the end, all participating groups of people should be so well trained that they can seamlessly continue the study digitally.

Digitization of a completely physical/real study
Strict data protection requirements
Effective and fast implementation

Integration of video conferencing software
Online training of advisors and study administration.
Provision of the platform for all study centers Germany-wide

Realization

BITS took over all the necessary services, starting with the technical project management, the conception of the Internet platform to be developed, the digital design and programming, and the subsequent training of all administrative user groups.

After comparing various possible solutions, the new web platform was implemented on the basis of LMS Moodle, since the existing study structure is based on courses that could be easily mapped using Moodle.

“The intervention group meets regularly, at which time the counselors cover the topic at hand from their course. In each course, subjects should be able to fill out forms at longer intervals and download course materials digitally.”

The regular live meetings were replaced by online conference meetings, which were individually integrated by BITS within LMS Moodle based on Jisti Meet, allowing participants to hold video conferences in their courses directly on the web platform.

There are a total of five user groups with different rights and functional scopes on the platform. A particular challenge was that the control group must not know anything about the intervention group, which was ensured by individual configuration of the roles and rights structure of the Moodle system.

In the user guidance and information architecture, great importance was attached to user-friendliness, accessibility and intuitive operation. We are pleased to have achieved good usability and user experience, which has been repeatedly praised by users.

After the new web platform went live, the consultants and administrators were trained in several appointments to be able to handle the individualized software properly.

First, the Munich clinic was successfully launched, followed by the digitization of all study centers across Germany.