PurposeThe Alberta Prostate Cancer Research Initiative (APCaRI) Registry and Biorepository was established in 2014 by the APCaRI to facilitate the collection of clinical and patient-reported data, biospecimen, to measure prostate cancer outcomes and to support the development and clinical translation of innovative technologies to better diagnose and predict outcomes for patients with prostate cancer.ParticipantsMen suspected with prostate cancer and referred to Urology centres in Alberta were enrolled in the APCaRI 01 study, while men with a prior prostate cancer diagnosis participated in the APCaRI 03 study from 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2019. The APCaRI Registry and Biorepository links biospecimens and data from a wide representation of patients drawn from an Alberta population of more than 4 million.Findings to dateFrom 1 July 2014 to 30 June 2019, total APCaRI 01 and 03 study recruitment was 3754 men; 142 (4%) of these men withdrew in full, 65 men (2%) withdrew biospecimens and 123 men (3%) died of any cause. Over this same time, 8677 patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) surveys and 7368 biospecimens were collected and are available from the registry and biorepository, respectively. The data entry error rate was 0.8% and 0.95% for critical and non-critical values, respectively, and 1.8% for patient-reported surveys.Future plansThe APCaRI Registry and Biorepository will collect longitudinal data and PROM surveys until 2024, patient outcomes up to 25 years after recruitment and biospecimen storage for up to 25 years. The APCaRI cohorts will continue to provide data and samples to researchers conducting retrospective studies. The richness of the data and biospecimens will complement many different research questions, ultimately to improve the quality of care for men with prostate cancer.

PURPOSE An online clinical information system, called Predictive Research Online System Prostate Cancer Tasks (PROSPeCT), was developed to enable users to query the Alberta Prostate Cancer Registry database hosted by the Alberta Prostate Cancer Research Initiative. To deliver high-quality patient treatment, prostate cancer clinicians and researchers require a user-friendly system that offers an easy and efficient way to obtain relevant and accurate information about patients from a robust and expanding database. METHODS PROSPeCT was designed and implemented to make it easy for users to query the prostate cancer patient database by creating, saving, and reusing simple and complex definitions. We describe its intuitive nature by exemplifying the creation and use of a complex definition to identify a “high-risk” patient cohort. RESULTS PROSPeCT was made to minimize user error and to maximize efficiency without requiring the user to have programming skills. Thus, it provides tools that allow both novice and expert users to easily identify patient cohorts, manage individual patient care, perform Kaplan Meier estimates, plot aggregate PSA views, compute PSA-doubling time, and visualize results. CONCLUSION This report provides an overview of PROSPeCT, a system that helps clinicians to identify appropriate patient treatments and researchers to develop prostate cancer hypotheses, with the overarching goal of improving the quality of life of patients with prostate cancer. We have made available the code for the PROSPeCT implementation at https://github.com/max-uhlich/e-PROSPeCT .

Introduction:Immune globulin (IG) is a publicly funded blood product with high utilization rates and rapidly rising costs. Inappropriate use of IG, particularly in dose and treatment duration, is observed in about 10 percent of cases, and the national guidelines for IG treatment are outdated. To develop a utilization management policy for IG, the Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan Ministries of Health collaborated with health technology assessment (HTA) researchers and clinicians to develop evidence-based guideline recommendations for IG treatment to inform an authorization policy for IG utilization in the provinces.Methods:A multidisciplinary committee comprising HTA researchers and 22 physicians from seven medical specialties adapted recommendations from 43 “seed” guidelines into one locally contextualized IG guideline. HTA methods and rapid review products were used extensively to update gaps in the evidence base. The guideline recommendation document was used to develop a provincial IG utilization management policy. The challenges of achieving a methodologically rigorous guideline development process will be discussed.Results:The guideline contained over 60 recommendations for IG use in different medical specialties. The health ministries used the guideline recommendations to develop an IG authorization policy. The clinician-sanctioned review criteria were used to construct a conditional reimbursement system for generating outcome data from controlled off-label IG use for conditions where evidence gaps existed, and were built into policies for benchmarking compliance.Conclusions:Three provinces successfully collaborated to develop an IG utilization management policy. The unique approach involved a credible and transparent process that incorporated key review elements for compliance benchmarking and reimbursement, promoted clinician buy-in, and created a cadre of clinical champions willing to assist in policy development and implementation. The proactive, rather than retroactive, incorporation of clinician-sanctioned benchmarking and review criteria into policy will help bridge the know-do gap and foster a stronger, more direct link between health policy and evidence.