Microsoft Access®: A Viable Blood and Marrow Transplant (BMT) Database Solution

Microsoft Access®: A Viable Blood and Marrow Transplant (BMT) Database Solution

Background: Accurate and efficient BMT data collection is essential for outcomes analyses and program administration as well as for meeting external reporting requirements. As technological innovation has driven the transition from paper-based charts to electronic medical records (EMRs), a rapid development of software products designed to work alongside EMRs has taken place to provide programs with the ability to analyze and manipulate their electronic data in real-time. Although promising efforts are underway to improve current products and to integrate separate systems into one EMR platform, BMT programs may determine that a customizable database is needed to fulfill their present data needs until a more comprehensive solution arises. Our program turned to Microsoft Access® to create a BMT-specific database to fulfill our current data needs while we continue to advance development of program-specific solutions within Epic®, our hospital's EMR.

Methods: A spreadsheet of all transplants performed and the transplant essential data available from CIBMTR's Data Back to Centers (DBtC) portal were translated and uploaded into a Microsoft Access® database. A main data entry form was created to minimize errors and maximize efficiency of all necessary TED data required by the local program and CIBMTR. Combo boxes, validation properties, and simple Visual Basic (VBA) events were added to maximize functionality and standardize the data at the time of first entry. Tabs within the main form organize data by logical order, and a hyperlink can be clicked to bring the user to CIBMTR's reporting manuals. A separate form similar in appearance to the form 2450 was created to view all previously reported forms available from CIBMTR, as well as to enter new data while simultaneously reporting within FormsNet3. Dynamic queries were built for all commonly requested subsets of data, such as transplant volumes, mortality, engraftment, GVHD, etc.

Conclusion: Compiling data for clinician requests and re-certifications, which used to take days, now takes only minutes. Patient-specific reports were built that allow users to instantly fax a request for information to external providers with one click of a button, which decreased the time spent on this activity alone by more than 75%. Our BMT program has found Access® to be a dynamic, cost-effective and resourceful solution to meeting current program quality improvement (QI) data needs and fulfilling federal reporting requirements.

Figure 1. A partial view of the BMT Data Team's main data entry form.

Figure 2. The subform utilized for entering and viewing CIBMTR-reported data is similar to the CIBMTR Post-TED 2450.