Epic Registration of Clinical Trials

What

Epic is the main electronic health record system (EHR) used at MSHS, to which MSHS is migrating its hospitals and practices.

Epic's research functionality at MSHS includes:
  • Clinical Trial Research Study Management
  • Clinical Research Study Tools
  • Cohort QueryTool
  • Recruitment

Access to the Epic Electronic Health Record System

The Mount Sinai Medical Board requires new hires to complete training prior to receiving Epic access. Clinicians are granted access by their departments but must show proof of training via PEAK. Non-clinicians, e.g., PhD researchers, research coordinators, etc., may have read-only access to Epic, please discuss this with your Department Administrator.

Visit the Epic Learn Center in PEAK for information regarding the training requirements based on your role. To access the Epic Learn Center click PEAK > EPIC in the upper right-hand corner.

Requests for Epic access must be granted by your Department Administrator via Sailpoint prior to taking PEAK training. Access to Epic will be provided approximately 5 days after completing PEAK training.

Questions

Contact epictraining@mountsinai.org.

Clinical Trial Research Studies in Epic

Registering a New Clinical Trial Research Study

What

All interventional clinical trials (e.g., trials involving drugs or devices) are required to be registered in Epic.

When

After a study has been approved by the IRB it can be made available in Epic. Please contact the MSH INSURANCE BUILD Team, MSHInsuranceBuild@mountsinai.org to start this registration process. The actual technical setup of this function generally takes about one business day, but advance notice is required to ensure that you meet study deadlines.

How

Requests for Epic and Cerner builds can be made by completing an "EPIC/Cerner GCO Request Form" PDF provided to you by emailing  MSHInsuranceBuild@mountsinai.org. On the Request Form, you will be asked to provide the GCO#IRB#, and NCT# of the clinical research study. Once the form is completed, you must email the form to # MSH INSURANCE BUILD at MSHInsuranceBuild@mountsinai.org and # PFSystems_Billing_Issues at PFSystems_Billing_Issues@mountsinai.org.

Additionally, you should submit a ticket following the instructions below:

  1. Log into the Self Service Portal
  2. Select “Browse the Service Request Catalogue”
  3. Expand the “Applications” menu and select “EPIC”
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the page and select “Epic Research Study Record (RSH)” to request the creation of a research study protocol record in EPIC
  5. Complete the form and select “Order Now”

Contact

For additional assistance, you may contact the helpdesk by dialing 4HELP (212-241-4357) or email them at ITHELPDESK@mountsinai.org.

Linking a Patient to a Clinical Trial Research Study

What

When a patient signs the Informed Consent and HIPAA forms for an interventional clinical trial, the patient must be linked to the research study in Epic.

The patient will have a Medical Record Number (MRN) in Epic that can be linked to a trial as soon as he or she is registered in the system as a new patient. A patient record with the MRN is created as soon as a patient requests an MSHS appointment for the first time at a MSHS location that uses the Epic EHR system.

The clinical research study coordinator should update the patient’s research study status in Epic to reflect an Active research status. In Epic, the Active research study statuses are Enrolled, or Identified, or Interested, or Consent Signed.

How

For detailed instructions, refer to the following documents:

Scanning Informed Consent Forms (ICF) for Clinical Trials

It is the policy of the Mount Sinai Health System (MSHS) that the signed informed consent forms (ICFs) of patients enrolled in an intervention clinical trial are scanned into Epic. Exceptions are HIV or Psychiatry research studies.

Scanning and upload of documents into Epic (media section) is limited to specific areas. Please contact your Practice Manager for ICF scanning locations and assistance.

Please Note – that Research Teams are still required to maintain the original signed ICF - even it has been scanned into EPIC.

Questions - Contact Research Compliance at (646) 605-7120.

Linking a Patient Encounter to a Clinical Trial

What

To ensure appropriate billing, all research visits or encounters that are associated with an interventional research protocol are required to be linked to the research study.

How

For detailed instructions, refer to the following documents:

Setting up Research Orders for Clinical Trials

What

Research clinical services (labs, diagnostic tests, etc.) as well as investigational drugs or biologics from Investigational Drug Services (IDS) must be ordered in Epic.

How

Investigational Drug Service (IDS) Orders - IDS must be notified as soon as a GCO# is established in order to initiate the process of creating a medication record in Epic. Ordering of all research medications can be done by searching by the "GCO#". Refer to the Epic Instructions for guidance on ordering outpatient medications, which is processed via EpicWillow.  All outpatient prescriptions must be communicated to IDS at least 24 hours in advance.

Oncology Studies - For oncology studies that utilize Epic Beacon, IDS must be notified when there is a patient in screenings so the Beacon Treatment Plan can be built.

Exception

If you are utilizing the BioMedical Engineering and Imaging Institute (BMEII) for imaging, orders and scheduling must be conducted through Calpendo. For more information, refer to SOP 103, the SOP for Scheduling a Research Study.

Questions – Contact Christopher.Cannistraci@mssm.edu

Requesting Clinical Trial Monitor/Auditor Access

What

Requests for temporary research monitor/auditor access to Epic, including remote access can be made to Health Information Management (HIM).

When

The requester will need to submit a request to HIM at least one week prior to the scheduled date of review.

How

For step-by-step instructions the research team can refer to the internal document  Research Team Guidance: How to Request EPIC Access for Remote Monitoring. This includes contact details for HIM and an example email request template.  

The Research SOP 001 can be provided to the monitor for instructions for set-up requirements, as well as the  ROI Inspector Workflow guidance. The updated HIM Policy 19.3 Providing EPIC Access to Outside Reviewers can be provided to the sponsor or sponsor representative, if requested. 

 Note to access these documents in SharePoint, you may be prompted to enter your MSHS credentials.

 

Unlinking Patients from Clinical Trials and Closing Out or Terminating Clinical Trials

What

Because all interventional clinical trials (e.g., trials involving drugs or devices) are required to be registered in Epic by research teams (PI or designee), clinical trials also must be closed out in Epic when they end.

In addition, a research team’s clinical research coordinator is responsible for updating a patient’s study status in Epic when that participation status changes, including when the clinical trial has ended.

When

A study team’s clinical research coordinator must go into Epic and update a patient’s study status to the appropriate status from among the following, Declined, or Completed, or Disqualified, or Withdrawn, or Off-Study, as soon as possible after a patient withdraws or completes a study, and after a study ends.

To close out a clinical trial in Epic, you need to request that the Epic Applications Team do so. The Epic Application Team’s technical work generally takes about one business day. The study team should submit their request to Epic Applications team via the IT Help Desk at least week prior to the close of the study, to allow enough time for the MSHS Epic team to schedule and complete this work as soon as the study closes.

How

For directions on how to update a patient’s study status in Epic for a clinical trial because the patient has withdrawn from a study, completed it, or because the clinical trial has ended, please see this tipsheet for “Linking a Patient to a Study".

To close out a clinical trial altogether, submit this form for closure requests:

Epic Research Study Record (RSH) - Mount Sinai Health System (service-now.com)

Clinical Research Billing Issues

Internal email for getting help with billing issues.

Central Billing Office
cbo-researchbilling@mountsinai.org

You may also contact Vivian Mitropoulou, Research Compliance Officer, MSHS (office 646-605-7120).

Research 411 Portal

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