Baptist Health South Florida Selects OnCore to Enhance Research Administration

Forte Research Systems, a developer of specialized clinical trial management systems (CTMS) and enterprise research solutions, and Baptist Health South Florida, the largest faith-based, not-for-profit healthcare organization in the region, are pleased to announce that Baptist Health South Florida has selected the OnCore® Enterprise Research system to centrally manage clinical research administration and enhance its billing compliance processes. The OnCore system will also play a vital role in effectively managing the clinical research processes at the planned Miami Cancer Institute at Baptist Health South Florida and its dedicated clinical research facility, which is set to open in 2016.

A System to Support Exponential Clinical Research Growth

Before its selection of the OnCore system, research operations at Baptist Health South Florida were being managed using varying methods across departments, including spreadsheets and homegrown systems. The organization began searching for a system that could support centralized management of clinical research processes. Of the benefits, the organization identified clinical research billing compliance as a top priority. “As billing compliance came to a forefront in terms of importance, we looked at centrally managing our research and realized that we needed a system that could support our needs,” said Dr. Susan Golembeski, assistant vice president for research and grants at Baptist Health South Florida.

In addition to supporting multi-disciplinary research across its system, Baptist Health South Florida also searched for a system that could support an increasing number of complex oncology trials that will be conducted when the Miami Cancer Institute opens in 2016.

The OnCore Systems Sets Itself Apart

Baptist selected the OnCore system for its robust functionality for centrally supporting protocols system-wide, and its ability to support billing compliance processes. “We like the financials and the billing compliance piece, because right now we are doing our Medicare Coverage Analyses the old-fashioned way with Excel templates,” she said.

Within the OnCore system, organizations can designate charges as research-related or routine, and record the reasoning behind determinations. Furthermore, communication is streamlined between groups, helping to ensure the timeliness and accuracy of billing.

Dr. Golembeski added, “Billing compliance is very important for us. We want optimum accuracy and efficiency, and the OnCore system will enhance our processes.”

Forte’s approach of creating a standards-based solution through collaboration was also important to Baptist Health South Florida. “I really like the way Forte works by listening to users and using a collaborative approach to refine the product and meet the needs of customers,” Dr. Golembeski said. “Forte really listens and keeps changing things to make them better. The OnCore system is constantly evolving and improving, and that’s needed, because the research world is constantly changing.”

Furthermore, Baptist Health South Florida recognized the growth of the OnCore user community (referred to as Onsemble) as a sign of the system’s ability to successfully support clinical research operations.

The robust Onsemble community also represents an opportunity for staff at Baptist to collaborate with peer research organizations to advance clinical research operations. “We are really looking forward to participating in the Onsemble community,” Dr. Golembeski said. “It’s exciting to be a part of something bigger. There is so much opportunity within a professional community to learn from each other and take part in collaboratively advancing research.”