Current Version (SPARCRequest v3.1.0 and SPARCFulfillment v2.7.0)

Icons Added to Step 1 (Add/Update Services)

On the SPARCRequest Step 1 page, users are not always aware the Service Catalog menu on the left side is expandable. Since there are many layers of providers, programs, cores, etc., dropdown arrow icons have been added where the organizations are expandable.

Secondly, a "shopping cart" icon was added to the "My Services" cart on the right on every page where the cart is displayed.

RMID Server Warning Bug

When creating/editing a protocol in SPARC, the RMID server warning will no longer display if the RMID configuration is not turned on (in the settings table). The warning does not display in the case of the token being bad and the setting is set to false.

SPARC/RMID Validation Status Bug Fix

The validation tag on short title and long title fields that indicates a protocol’s titles have been updated, according to the associated validated RMID records, was not updating correctly. This bug has been fixed with the API, and it is now refreshing (updating validation tag and titles if validated) daily at 4:30 am.

Step 6 (Review Your Request) Line Item Visit Notes Bug Fix

There was a bug causing the added line item visit notes (from SPARCRequest Step 4 page or SPARCDashboard Admin Edit section) to not display on Step 6 page. This bug has since been fixed.

System-generated Email "Requester" Column Feature

System-generated emails were previously only showing the “(Requester)” notation on a study team user when all the requests under that protocol were requested by the same person. This logic has been revamped and now a “Requester” column is displayed for each request, showing the user who submitted that individual request.

Calendar Validation Added When Sending Request to SPARCFulfillment

When a user clicks the "Send to Fulfillment" button on SPARCDashboard (for Service Providers to push the request to SPARCFulfillment), the calendar is now validated and an error message indicates when further info is require. This was done to prevent silent failures caused by broken calendar.

Validations Added when Sending Protocol to Epic

The following improvements have been done to the functions triggered by the “Send to Epic” button on the SPARCDashboard Admin Edit section “Request Details” tab:

1). The "Send to Epic" button now only displays when a protocol has been selected to be sent to Epic;

2). The "Send to Epic" button now only shows up if the service provider’s organization has services that go to Epic (see screenshot below taken for an organization without Epic-related services);

3). Validations are added to check the calendar integrity, with a popup error message "This protocol has failed to be sent to Epic because of failed validation. Please make sure the service calendar is intact before trying again" (see screenshot below).

4). When the calendar validation fails, no protocol (SOAP message) will be sent to Epic.

Epic Queue Logic Improvement

Previously, when a user went back to an existing protocol (which had been pushed to Epic before), clicked the "Add/Modify Request" button, changed users with Epic rights, and then re-submitted the protocol, it was placing the protocol into the "Authorized User Update" tab. This resulted in a protocol-level information update, but not the "Current" tab for sending the whole protocol to Epic (with calendar).

In this release, the queue logic has been improved so the protocol is only listed as a full protocol push to Epic (with calendar) when the scenario mentioned above happens.

Delete Request Disabled for Requests Already in Fulfillment

From SPARCDashboard Admin Edit section, service providers have the ability to "Delete Request" under the "Request Details" tab. In this release, a new feature was implemented to hide the “Delete Request” button, when a request has already been sent to SPARCFulfillment. This functionality was done to prevent inconsistency in records between SPARCRequest and SPARCFulfillment.

Search Field Option Tied with RMID configuration

Previously, when the RMID configuration was turned off, the "RMID" option was still showing up in the Search options on SPARCDashboard. The search option has now been tied with the RMID configuration in order to eliminate confusion with other institutions that do not use RMID.

Improved Error Message for Missing Primary PI

When creating a study or project without choosing a Primary PI, the previous error message stated "Project roles identity can't be blank." This error message was confusing to users and the language has now been changed to "Primary PI can't be blank" instead.

Epic User Update/Deletion Feature

When a user with Epic rights is removed from existing Epic protocols, or when a user with Epic rights is changed to no Epic rights, it is now triggering the update to be automatically sent to Epic daily and maintain the consistency of records between the two systems.

Special Character Filter Added to Title and Short Title Fields

Methods have been implemented with the new release to automatically filter out special characters (such as ░ ▒ ▓ ╣║ ╗ ╝ ±, ≥) and excessive blanks in the Study Title and Short Title fields, to prevent silent failures with the SPARC/Epic interface, as well as other errors caused by special characters.

The tooltip language on the Title fields have also been updated accordingly.

Add Calendar Structure Lock for Overlords

On SPARCDashboard protocol page, a “Calendar Structure” section has been added to display the Arm Name, Subject Count and Visit Count information.

For overlord users (such as Office of Clinical Research users), a “Lock Calendar” button is available for locking the calendar structure after a protocol has been reviewed and approved by the centralized office. The overlord users can still “Unlock Calendar” when necessary.

When a service calendar structure is locked, the users are no longer able to edit arm name, subject count, visit count, or the sequence/name of visits.

(SPARCRequest Step 3)

(SPARCRequest Step 4)

Permissible Values Display with Defined Order Bug Fix

Previously when adding a new document type into the permissible_values table, the sequence of the list displayed on the frontend was not following the order defined in sort_oder column. The methods have been updated to display the defined permissible values (such as document type, grant code, impact area, etc) by the defined order.

Before

After

Form on Organization Display Bug Fix

When a form was added on an organization level (and a service level form did not exist), the form section on SPARCRequest Step 5 page (Documents, Notes & Forms) was not showing up, although the form did appear on SPARCDashboard. This bug has since been fixed and the form now appears on both sides.

Indirect Cost Rate Validation and Configuration Conflict Bug

In a previous production, indirect cost rate validation was added so that the entered number is required to be greater than or equal to 1. However, there was a bug for the validation still acting when the indirect cost rate is turned off (use_indirect_cost). For historical data with bad indirect cost rate values, users were unable to go back and fix the rate, or save the updated protocol. This bug has been fixed so the indirect cost rate validation is tied with the corresponding configuration.

Use Boolean Flags for Available Statuses and Editable Statuses

The method for saving the available and editable statuses has been improved, so that it is more efficient storing and updating the changes with the statuses from SPARCCatalog actions.

New Service Linking Import Script

A new script has been created for importing the hospital service linkage (technical service and professional service) into SPARCCatalog from an excel spreadsheet. For example, at MUSC there are 5561 couples of HB and PB services that are now linked. Now, when a user chooses a HB/PB service, the corresponding PB/HB service will appear in the shopping cart automatically (see the screenshot below for an example).

Service Pricing Report Improvement

The previous service pricing report was not easy to differentiate among services (such as hospital services with similar names). Secondly, when running the report at a higher level, the lowest denominator of the organization that service belongs to didn’t display on the report (i.e. Core or Program). The following changes have been made to improve this report:

          1). For the filter of this report, the "Additional Codes" section was added, for users to choose whether to include "CPT Code," "Revenue Code", "Order Code", and/or "EAP ID" into the report for their purpose.

 2). All organizational levels are now shown (i.e. "Institution/ Provider/ Program/ Core") for the listed services in the report.