Effective Collaboration Between Biostatisticians with Clinicians in Conducting Medical Research

• Activity Number: 127
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Monday, July 30, 2012 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
• Sponsor: Section on Statistical Consulting
• Author(s): Yahya Daoud*+ and Monica Anand and Monica Bennett and Hui Xu and Derek Blankenship
• Companies: Baylor Health Care System and and Baylor Health Care System and Baylor Health Care System and Baylor Health Care System
• Keywords: Statistical Consulting ; Clinical Research ; Health Care Improvement

Abstract

Objectives: Presenting an effective and comprehensive method for completing medical research project successfully. Methods: Our process consists of 3 major parts which are communicated to the research team with one standardized dynamic report. The initial step involves reviewing the researcher's objectives through written materials and/or discussions. Our understanding of the project objectives and requirements, the anticipated problems, the statistical plan and the estimated time table are presented to the research team through graphical displays and written explanation. The second part includes timely communication of the study progress and data quality concerns. The final part consists of the statistical analysis report and manuscript write-up. Case Studies: We will illustrate our process through two case studies, one from the Emergency Department, and the second from the Nursing School. Conclusion: Using this process resulted in very successful collaborations between the clinical teams and the Biostatistics group. It also enabled us to avoid miscommunications from the beginning of the projects.