Doctors Control Panel (DCP)

TOPIC: Doctors Control Panel (DCP)

Q1. What is the difference between DCP and Pen CAT?

Both are auditing tools however DCP can be programmed to identify eligible patients as they present to the practice for an appointment. Using DCP allows us to utilise this function to conduct a more targeted approach of patients. DCP will print out a customised study sheet at presentation which will be attached to patient information. There are some eligibility criteria that DCP cannot filter and we are asking that the GP or PN will be able to complete this form and provide an avenue for patients to ask questions about the study

Q2. Where will DCP be installed?

DCP will be installed on the workstation that checks patients in for their appointment. This workstation will need to be connected to a printer. It is best that only one user profile is used to logon to the workstation. The DCP trial software should be installed into the user profile that is in use daily on the workstation. If multiple users are logging onto the workstation under different user profiles, then the DCP trial software will need to be installed for each user profile. Once installed by the research staff, DCP will automatically run when that person logs on.

Q3. How will DCP interact with my system?

DCP is a lightweight program which has very minimal hardware requirements and impacts only lightly on the overall CPU usage of the system. DCP does not interact with other software installed on the system and will not slow or interfere with clinical software.

DCP also does not write to the clinical software database.

Q4. Will DCP extract de-identifiable data only?

DCP will be used to extract both de-identified and identified data. The initial audit to assess recording which will be done for ALL practices (Audit A) will be de-identified.

Once patients are enrolled in the study and have provided consent to participate, DCP will be used to audit data that is identified for those participating

Q5. We cannot generally download software due to our firewall. We have contracted IT support, how will installation be managed?

DCP support will be able to liaise with your IT representative to get around issues such as firewalls. DCP is always downloaded from a link and there are methods for negotiating firewalls. The HeLP GP study cannot pay for additional practice IT support however.

Q6. Our practice is interested in using the DCP program. Is there an option to obtain this at reduced cost if we are part of the study?

The DCP trial client used for the study has been developed specifically for the study. If GPs at the practice are interested in accessing the full version of DCP, up to 5 licences may be provided for free, for 12 months. DCP licenses are provided per GP and not per practice. If you are interest, the Research Officers will forward your details onto the Developers, who will manually activate the licence. In instances where there are more than 5 GPs interested in DCP, this will be negotiated with the developers on a case by case basis.

The licence duration will be 12 months from the date the licence will be provided. If you would like to continue past the 12 months, you will need to pay to renew the licence. The annual cost of the licence is approximately $150 per GP. For practices in the study, both applications can run concurrently.