The SIRECS project José Ángel Expósito Losada Catalan Agency for Health Information, Assessment and Quality (CAIAHQ)

1. The SIRECS project
José Ángel Expósito Losada
Catalan Agency for Health Information,
Assessment
and Quality (CAIAHQ)

2. Bilbao
Catalonia
(Population
around 7.5
millions)
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3. The SIRECS project
What is it?
In Catalan SIRECS stands for Information System of
Centres and Institutes of Biomedical and Healthcare
Research
-It is a data repository based on a previous data registry of the
public Catalan Universities run by the Secretary for Universities
and Research called UNEIX (= pooling data) that is working since
2002.
-It is addressed at biomedical and healthcare research centres
endowed by the Catalan Health Department.
- The SIRECS repository has expanded UNEIX with the collection
of the data from biomedical and healthcare research centres,
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and these data have been adapted to the UNEIX way to report.

4. The SIRECS project
Who is who?
• The Catalan Department of Health is the driving force
behind the project.
•The Catalan Agency for Health Information, Assessment
and Quality (CAHIAQ) is the coordinator and executor of
the information system.
•The Secretary for Universities and Research runs the
database.
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5. The SIRECS project
Similarities with other initiatives
-It is a collaboration between a research agency
(CAIAHQ) and research institutions to document data
of science investment.
-It collects data directly from the research centres.
-Uses this data to assess the centres’ performance.
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6. The SIRECS project
Differences with other initiatives
-It is focused on inputs:
1.Personal data (human resources)
2.Competitive and non competitive resources
3.Participation in research programmes and networks
- (... and outputs):
4. Clinical trials.
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7. The SIRECS project
Objectives (I)
 To offer biomedical research centres a homogeneous
management tool in the Catalan System of Research &
Development
 To allow a better follow up of the investment made by these
centres
 To unify the work methodology of the Catalan biomedical
research centres (e.g. annual activity reports)
 To match the resources with the needs of established
knowledge and priorities
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8. The SIRECS project
Objectives (II)
 To put together the productivity: relation between inputs
(human, technical and budgetary resources) and outputs
obtained (products)
 To make easier the benchmarking among the Catalan
biomedical research centres
 To portray the research in Catalan health science periodically
 To provide sound data that contribute to the assessment of
Catalan biomedical research centres
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9. The SIRECS project
The SIRECS role in the R & I Plan of the Catalan
Department of Health. 2012 – 2015.
Some of the objectives of the Strategy Plan are:
 To define an assessment process of research centres
based on results.
 To invest efficiently in the excellence of research.
 To promote knowledge translation and asses the social
impact.
 The aim of SIRECS is to be the tool to achieve these
objectives.
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10. The SIRECS project
What is the situation in Spain?
The SIRECS project is the first of its kind in Spain.
It will be potentially expanded to collect research outputs
other than clinical trials (i.e. publications, thesis, spin-offs,
patents...), and might be also applied to other places in
Spain different from Catalonia.
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11. The SIRECS project
Other global initiatives (I):
• RAISS tool (RAND/ARC Impact Scoring System), UK
• NIHR (National Institute for Health Research) collection
programme, UK.
• MRC (Medical Research Council) e-Val programme, UK
and Africa
• SFTC (Science and Technologies Facilities Council) e-
Val, UK and internationally
• Collection of output data, Switzerland
• Collection of output data by the Health Research Board
(HRB), Ireland
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12. The SIRECS project
Other global initiatives (II):
• Lattes (Brazil). A Curriculum and institutions database of
Science and Technology areas in Brazil
• CASRAI (Consortia Advancing Standards in Research
Administration Information)  Data exchange and reuse
between research teams, institutions, and funding
agencies throughout the entire life-cycle of research
activity.
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13. The SIRECS project
What information is collected? (I)
1. Personal (Human resources)
2. Competitive and non competitive resources
3. Clinical trials
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14. The SIRECS project
What information is collected? (II)
The information is collected yearly. We are now collecting the 2010 data.
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15. The SIRECS project
What information is collected? (III)
1. Personal (Human resources)
- Name, National ID number, country of birth.
- Research centre and date of beginning (and end) of the
contract
- Position (researcher, clerk, manager...)
- Hours/week devoted to research, teaching, health care and
management.
- Educational background: (graduate, doctorate, etc.)
... Among many other
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16. The SIRECS project
What information is collected? (IV)
2. Competitive and non competitive resources
- Start and end date of the project
- Which subsidy it is (programme, call, institution that
provides the money...)
- Principle investigator of the project.
- Amount of the subsidy.
- Is it a coordinated activity with other centres?
- Is the researcher the coordinator of a multicentre study?
- ... Among many other
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17. The SIRECS project
What information is collected? (V)
3. Clinical trials
- Beginning and end date (if available) of the trial
- Unique identifier number of the trial
- Who is the principal researcher
- Therapeutic group of the disease according to the
International Classification of Diseases (ICD 10)
- Drug or vaccine group according the ATC Classification
(Anatomical, Therapeutic, Chemical classification
system)
- Or medical device code according to the Global Medical
Device Nomenclature.
- Phase of the trial if possible (I, II, III, IV)
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18. The SIRECS project
How the information is validated?
No errors or
sFTP (Secure warnings
File Transport Automatic SIRECS
Research
Protocol) validation /UNEIX
Centre
(2/a day) repository
Errors or
warnings
Information Correction
collected * Errors and
and sent warnings
report
Data
Exploitation
* According to the SIRECS protocols
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19. Thank you for your attention!