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St George Dermatology & Skin Cancer Centre: Secure long-term storage for critical clinical trial records
The background
St George Dermatology & Skin Cancer Centre is a Sydney-based specialist dermatology practice with an established Clinical Trials Unit conducting dermatology research.
Clinical trials generate significant volumes of confidential medical and patient records that must be retained for extended periods. For the Clinical Trials team, this created a practical challenge: how to meet long-term recordkeeping obligations without consuming valuable space within the practice.
St George Dermatology & Skin Cancer Centre partnered with Grace Information Management for secure physical file storage.
The challenge
The Clinical Trials team is required to retain patient files for a minimum of 15 years, but simply did not have sufficient onsite space to accommodate the growing volume of records.
Beyond space, the sensitive nature of clinical trial documentation meant records needed to be managed with appropriate consideration for confidentiality and the team’s ethical and legal requirements.
The Centre needed a solution that could:
- Support the long-term retention of clinical trial and patient files.
- Protect confidential medical information.
- Reduce pressure on limited onsite storage.
- Provide an organised and reliable way to manage archived records.
- Make it simple to identify and recall information when required.
- Reduce the administrative burden of managing a growing physical archive.
The solution
Grace provides St George Dermatology & Skin Cancer Centre with secure offsite physical file storage for its clinical trial records.
The solution includes:
- Secure offsite storage of confidential medical and patient files.
- Digital management of the Centre’s physical archive.
- An online inventory providing visibility of stored cartons.
- Simple search functionality to locate cartons when required.
- Straightforward recall of archived boxes.
- Support from the Grace team when assistance is needed.
For Nicola, having direct support available was particularly valuable. After watching the instructional videos but remaining unsure about the process, she contacted Grace and was personally guided through what she needed to do.
The results
Moving clinical trial files into secure offsite storage has provided the Centre with a more organised and efficient way to manage its long-term records.
Key benefits include:
- Valuable onsite space freed from long-term file storage.
- Greater confidence in the storage of confidential clinical trial records.
- Easier organisation of archived files.
- Improved visibility through a searchable digital inventory.
- Simple recall of physical cartons when required.
- Less reliance on paper-based archive management.
- Reduced administrative effort for the Clinical Trials team.
While the Centre has not formally quantified the time savings, Nicola says the solution has made the team more efficient and freed staff to focus on other tasks.
St George Dermatology & Skin Cancer Centre chose Grace because it was an established and reputable provider with a well-organised and straightforward system.
The support provided by the Grace team has also helped make the process easy to navigate. When Nicola needed additional assistance getting started, the team was understanding and walked her through the process directly.
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