Applications Analyst I

The Research Patient Data Registry (RPDR) is a centralized clinical data registry designed for facilitating research across the Mass General Brigham. This registry consolidates data from a variety of hospital systems into an organized format that can be easily queried by investigators from across the organization. We build applications that allow researchers to search this data, which is helpful during grant applications or conducting feasibility analyses, and we provide self-service tools that disseminate patient data for IRB approved studies. This repository is the first place all research projects go to obtain patient data derived from the medical record for their studies. It contains over 15 billion individual data points on over 6 million patients. Our team handles over 40,000 query requests from over 1500 researchers annually, including the creation and delivery of over 5,000 identified data sets. The total value of research grants that depend on data delivered from the RPDR for their associated research projects is estimated to be over $1 billion.

Under the direction of the Assistant Director of Operations, we are looking for an analyst who is eager to grow their career in healthcare and has a passion for helping research efforts across Mass General Brigham. This person will be ‘front line support’ responding to researcher questions directly or providing hands-on support to troubleshoot issues. Additionally, this person will be responsible for enhancing our research applications to allow researchers to quickly and accurately define cohorts of interest and make recommendations that improve the quality and output of our patient data files. This analyst will help with the processing and delivery of patient data sets from the RPDR to Mass General Brigham researchers. This person will be making an impact by improving our tools and services and turning recommendations into action.

The ideal candidate will have a strong interest in understanding how large health systems with heterogenous clinical systems support cutting-edge research, has a passion for data and building tools that help people work with that data, and has some working experience clinical patient data and/or electronic medical records or a strong aptitude to learn. Those with experience as a clinical research coordinator or research assistant are strongly encouraged to apply for this role.

Summary

Customer Support – 75%

• Respond to user emails in a timeline manner; identify trends and make recommendations to reduce confusion/user issues.

• Handle inquiries professionally with a “user-first” mind-set, keeping quality and integrity of our data top of mind.

• Log enhancements or potential software bugs in our bug tracking tool in a timely manner and participate in the prioritization process to address these based on impact and urgency.

• Use the Mass General Brigham values to govern decisions, actions and behaviors. These values guide how we get our work done: Patients, Affordability, Accountability & Service Commitment, Decisiveness, Innovation & Thoughtful Risk; and how we treat each other: Diversity & Inclusion, Integrity & Respect, Learning, Continuous Improvement & Personal Growth, Teamwork & Collaboration.

• Performs all other duties as required.

Data operations – 25%

• When needed, participate in the timely fulfillment of data requests for researchers, which includes structured data, clinical notes, digital device data, and medical images (DICOM).

• Help to review and conduct quality assurance checks on data files for accuracy and triage to the appropriate team member if problems arise.

• Identify and scope requirements for improvements in support of better researcher experience, including data fulfillment.

• Create, maintain, and edit RPDR website content, including but not limited to policy documents, training guides, data dictionaries, and FAQs.

• Make recommendations for improving team processes and continually work to improve the experience of researchers getting data from our system.

• Create process documentation for standard operating procedures, and ensure they are reviewed and updated in a timely fashion.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree Required

• 1-3 years of experience working with clinical patient data in some capacity.

• Passion for making an impact in clinical research.

• Interest in how data flows through complex architecture with an aptitude to identify issues and hypothesize solutions.

• Knowledge of hospital and clinical information systems or familiarity with electronic health records or claims data is a plus.

• Strong PC skills required, including MS Office suite.

• Working knowledge of medical terminology and healthcare/medical concepts, e.g. knowledge of standard code sets such as ICD9, ICD10, CPT, SNOMED, LOINC preferred.

• SQL skills (or a desire to learn) a huge plus.

Skills

• Ability to prioritize own work; working independently or as part of a group to research and resolve researcher questions.

• Strong aptitude for problem solving; Detail-oriented.

• Metric-driven with an eye toward process improvements.

• Self-motivated and adaptable, keeping others informed and comfortable reaching out to diverse stakeholders as needed.

• Excited by digging below the surface of issues and understanding the user problems and use cases in clinical research.

• Commitment to high quality customer service and serving as an exemplary representative of the RPDR Team.

• Ability to work independently in an intellectually challenging environment as well as the willingness to handle the more routine tasks that keep the team functioning.

• Professional, clear, and concise verbal and written communication skills.

• Outstanding interpersonal and teamwork skills. Ability to work collegially and able to develop and maintain productive relationships with colleagues and others across the organization, at all levels.

• Ability to quickly grasp objectives and opportunities within the research community