IU REDCap Day 2024

1:10 pm - 2:00 pm     Rm 450C     Intermediate
This presentation will provide tools for making effective reports. The design of a patient tracking log will be used as an example of how complex information can be synthesized into a simple report.

ABSTRACT
Martin | Make Better Reports with @CALCTEXT and Filter Logic

For many projects, it is critical that users have real-time access to the data. From pinpointing missing information to making data-based decisions, projects benefit from having data that is up to date and easy to read. REDCap reports offer this crucial functionality, but basic reports are often bloated and difficult to parse.

Two REDCap features—the @CALCTEXT action tag and report filter logic—can greatly simplify reports and provide additional functionality. @CALCTEXT can synthesize information across many variables and reduce the need for redundant data entry. Appropriate filters keep things simple and enable users to view only pertinent information. These and related functions can give users immediate insight into the data without the need for external programs.

In this presentation, I will discuss these reporting features in relation to the NICU Tracking Log, a REDCap project I created to catalog demographic and transfer information from patients admitted to the two Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) at Riley Hospital for Children. Moving this project from a shared Excel file to REDCap created challenges related to tracking patients as they moved within and outside our hospital. Despite these difficulties, REDCap has exceeded our team’s expectations, largely because of its reporting features. Compared to Excel, it is much easier for users to gain real-time insights from the data. Using @CALCTEXT and conditional logic with REDCap reports, one can now easily identify currently admitted patients and see their exact location in the hospital. With advanced filter logic, I’ve created reports showing recently admitted or discharged patients as well as focused reports on crucial populations of our NICU babies.

To help others with their projects, I will provide examples of report functionality that are broadly applicable. Examples will range from simple to complex and will include saving space by combining information from two fields, filtering reports based on dates, and removing all those terrible empty fields caused by repeating instruments.