Project Overview

Firstly, thank you for considering Digital Paradigms as a potential solutions provider for your animal bio-informatics project.  Digital Paradigms provides leadership in bio-informatics software, bio-metric software, and meta-tracking solutions. We work hard everyday to bring our clients stable technology & modern digital processes to help automate their operation, and make their life simpler & more productive.

Digital Paradigms is a privately help corporation located in downtown Boston in the heart of the country’s Biotech center.  We were founded with a vision to bring about a digital shift in the way our clients track, manage, and communicate their business information – with integrity and stability at our core.  We have worked long & hard at developing systems that are flexible, standardized and powerful enough to stand up to any business challenge. 

By leveraging several well known and proprietary technologies, Digital Paradigms has created products that are highly modular, modern, stable and scalable. Our ideal architecture is to create modular building blocks of technology so that each applied use of that technology can be seamlessly connected, separately purchased, upgraded, and scaled – empowering our clients with real time information and business controls while still keeping implementations simple, quick, and realistic.

Animal Bioware™

Animal Bioware Series II Suite™ is the second generation of animal bio-informatics software to be deployed by Digital Paradigms, Inc.  It is more mobile, modular, and functional than ever before.  With multi-platform modules available for: Animal Health, Animal Ordering, Breeding, Census, Facilities, Husbandry, IACUC, Inventory, Occupational Health, Purchasing & Billing, Training, and Technical Services;  it is the most comprehensive solution available, and the next generation standard in the animal bio-informatics software industry.

Animal Bioware Series II - Modules

The Animal Bioware™ Series II Software Suite is a complete set of modular building blocks & software tools that allow you to create a digital nervous system in which you will be in control & informed of all aspects of your animal program.  Select from our many modules, including:

Animal Health

ANIMAL HEALTH MODULE

The Animal Health Module is your key to the veterinary health services portion of the system.  Your care staff, empowered with mobile & barcode technologies, can create animal health cases, create follow-ups & treatment plans.  Health issues can be emailed or paged to principal investigators and veterinarians for near instant response.  Managing veterinarians have many reporting options including, case history reports, reports by facility, or outbreak reports by room.

Animal Order

ANIMAL ORDER MODULE

The Animal Order Module, lies at the heart of the procurement process.  Directly connecting to the IACUC Module for species/strain balances, and offering a wizard web portal, this module will automate the entire animal ordering process. The module includes a PC interface for approving, allocating, and placing animal orders, as well as delivery reports & predictive reports.

Billing

BILLING MODULE

Whether you charge back a daily per diem, for veterinary services, or for animal procurement, the Billing Module can handle these and any number of other billing classes. Billing classes, such as time entry, export fees, and professional services and many others are included in this module.  The Billing Module, automatically creates roll-up invoices, and will export to larger accounting systems.  The Billing Module allows for protocol to grant mapping, and other web based investigator tools.

Breeding

BREEDING MODULE

As the need for new transgenic, knock-out/in models, become the norm, the old breeding software strictly for colony management may not be able to handle the complexities of modern breeding needs. This module deploys both model creation & colony management into a single solution.  With our online web wizard technology, nearly anyone can start the model creation process. The system directly connects to the IACUC Module to validate breeding protocols, and balances.  Also, colony management includes unlimited litters & generations -plus cryo-library & storage tracking.  For breeding cage cards, the system allows for multi-color cage and transport cards -making lines easily visible within the facility.

Census

CENSUS MODULE

Coupled with the latest barcode & mobile technology, the Census Module, is your gateway to facility allocation information, billing / per diem information, and compliance information.  The census information is made available on a web portal for investigators & staff, and available on the PC platform for compliance & space reports.  Graph based reports are also available. 

Facilities

FACILITIES MODULE

This module was deigned with facility managers in mind.  It is meant to help control & predict the flow of animals throughout the facility, as well as manage ancillary tasks such as: room/rack configuration & barcode labeling.  Whether to allocate space, schedule deliveries, or to manage husbandry checklists, this module has the reports, and tools to help manage your facility.

Husbandry

HUSBANDRY MODULE

The Husbandry Module is where basic animal housing & receiving is done, where rooms & racks are labeled, and where cages are maintained & separated.  The staff has instant access to approved orders, and can print uniquely bar-coded cage cards in less than 3 clicks.

IACUC

IACUC MODULE

The first ever wizard based protocol creation tool makes the creation of protocols, amendments, and annual reviews as simple as clicking Next.  The module offers online committee review, approval, and revision requests, as well as, meeting & agenda creation tools.  The module automatically connects to the Animal Ordering Module for balance calculation, and animal transfers.  It also includes automatic reminders of low balance situations, review dates, and emails investigators step by step throughout the IACUC process.

Inventory

INVENTORY MODULE

A natural benefit to having barcode enabled equipment, in the facility, is that it makes tracking food, bedding, PPE supplies, and other supply usage, simpler and quicker.  This module helps with inventory costing, per diem calculation, and re-ordering of supplies.  Create build-to lists, and have the recommended re-order list automatically available via inventory reports.

Occupational Health

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH MODULE

With the many staff that you have to manage, and the compliance issues revolving their health, it is essential that your occupational health program keep pace.  In keeping with the Animal Bioware architecture, the Occupational Health Module seamlessly snaps into place.  It understands all of your staff, their roles, and what safety training that they need & when.  The module, also tracks all of their medical tests & results, and keeps track of when they are due for various vaccinations and tests.   The module has many reporting functions and automated email alerts to keep everyone informed when it comes to their health.

Training

TRAINING MODULE

The online Training Module is essential if you have busy staff, and your organization has a high training standard.  This module delivers high value training content on areas that range from SOP’s, Husbandry Duties, IACUC training, and any other content related to your business model.  The training module delivers the courses via web interface, schedules, delivers testing, and tracks the score and historical information on each staff, researcher or investigator.

Technical Services

TECHNICAL SERVICES MODULE

Scheduling and managing technical services such as pathology’s, blood collection, dosing, and other critical can quickly overwhelm your staff.  Using the web interface, investigators and requestors can make request for your services.  These can then easily be prioritized, scheduled, and organized.  Emails flow back and forth notifying everyone of a requests status.  Build resource requirements, and shift reports.  You can even connect to our billing module, and controlled drug request module, to really increase the functionality and efficiency of your organization.

Overview

With the many modules available, the following sections provide a close up view the Animal Bioware Series II Suite™ and the Modules.  With each module, there is more detail to be discussed, and the close up is intended to only provide a reasonable and cursory overview of the modules.

Mobile - Animal Health

Within the Palm application of the Animal Health Module, is the functionality, which allow care staff, veterinary technician staff, and veterinarians keep tabs on your animal program. 

It has been designed for the first level staff to be able to quickly scan room, rack, and cage, and make a quick diagnosis of severity, location and body part information.

Next in the process, the veterinary technicians would receive an email report identifying the animal health issues for a certain facility, room, or cage, and create treatment plans & follow-up on those treatment plans.

Depicted below, are the various screens that empower your staff to start automating their animal health reports:

PC - Animal Health

On the PC, there are various components which allow you to manage your animal health program.  Some of the basic functionality is as follows:

Animal Health Record – Whether you would like to know the health history for a particular animal, or are auditing animal health for protocol pain category compliance, the system, gives a detail history of each health case, who reported it, the treatment plan, pain score, and much more.

Email Capabilities – This functionality allows you to send animal health information to Investigators, their staff, internal or external veterinarians.  You can automate your email process with automated alerts & reminders for follow-up.

Animal Health Reports – The report builder allows you to create animal health reports by many criteria.  You could track an outbreak by room or animal health issues by month, or simply just glean all the animal health issues by a certain protocol.

Animal Ordering Module

The animal order module provides an end to end solution for your animal ordering process.  It starts with the protocol information provided by either our native protocol module, or by an outside data feed.  Then using an online web wizard provides a place for your investigators and their staff to create draft orders, and submit orders & standing orders.  The orders are then approved & allocated space by your facility managers.  The process continues on to housing, each step of the way communicating via email & online notification.

Web Based Ordering Wizard

The animal order web module provides an automated wizard to allow your investigators and their staff to self guide themselves through creating an order step by step.  The orders can then be submitted after passing through a business rule validation engine.

Business Rules Validation

Whether you have animal order blackout dates, require end of study, or  strains to be listed, an automated business rule validation engine checks the order prior to submission by the investigator:

PC Order Management

Your animal ordering staff will have complete access to all orders, standing orders, drafts or submitted orders.  It empowers them with the ability to monitor all orders step by step as they move through the fulfillment process.  They have filter capabilities to search through all of the orders finding any order at any time.

PC Order Reports

Pick from the many animal order reports to help manage your animal services.  Select from the costing reports, delivery reports, predictor reports, facility reports, and back order reports.

Billing PC

The billing module is your single source for all billing activity.  It acts as a hub to the all of the other modules in the suite, and can connect to other outside data sources as well.

Main Billing Screen

The main billing PC screen, allows your staff to simplify their billing functions, and streamline the entire billing process. The flow for the billing process can be described as follows:

Import Billing Detail and Queue

Using our native import buttons, the billing module import individual billable items, and puts those items into a billing queue.  In some cases, such as per diem charges those billable items are consolidated.  During this process various rate card information, and extended line item costs are created.  Your staff can also, add manual billable items for special services.

Invoices In Queue

The next step in the billing process is to take the individual billable items, and start consolidating those items on to invoices.  Your staff could be building up invoices on a daily basis to keep ahead of the month end crunch.  They are also creating a unified bill, that both reduce the number of invoices that your PI community receives, and makes invoice distribution simpler.

Sending Invoices

The system can automatically upload charges to your organization’s accounting system.  We will work with your accounting staff to help create appropriate upload files.  Also, the system sends the invoices to your PI community. It is as easy a single click, and all of your invoices can be instantaneously emailed out.

Grant Mapping

The Billing Module allows your investigators to map their protocols and grants in any way that they would like.  It puts the control back into their hands.  Some examples of this might be:

Assign a Billing Class to a Single Grant

Your staff or PI community can assign a billing class (Per Diem, Animal Orders, Professional Services etc.) to a single grant or internal project number.  This would allow them to have all of their charges for a particular type of billing class on a single grant.

Assign Multiple Grants to a Single Billing Class

They can also have any number of grants split the charges of a particular billing class.  This allows them to have multiple grants or projects to share in any one type of charge.

Assign a Grant to All Billing Classes

They can have one grant receive all of their charges.  This is the simplest of all approaches, but still flexible enough to change at a later time.

Rate Card

The rate card mechanism in the Billing Module, allows you or your staff to assign standardized rates for services, and billing items.  You may change the rate for items based on the facility, species and other criteria.  You may also easily print out your rate cards for easier publishing to your investigator community.  You can also easily change the rate card information before any billing cycle, and as much as needed

Standardize Invoices & Credit Memos

The module allows you to create, define, and issue standardized invoices & credit memos.  These documents can be sent electronically via email, or printed in hard copy form and mailed out.  They contain all of the charges or credits for all classes during a billing period, giving a unified look and feel to your billing process.

Breeding Module

With the Animal Bioware breeding module, we break breeding up into two distinct functions, model creation, and colony management.  With the model creation functionality, we manage the information necessary to create a new species/strain model.  And with the colony management side of the module, we provide a central location for managing all of your lines, founders, and animal order fulfillment needs.

Web Based Model Creation Wizard

Allow your investigators to create new and different mouse/rat models using our online web based model creation wizard.  This wizard guides them through the process of setting up a model.  Asking for information such as Mine ID, gene Information, gene family, Gen-Bank information, expression patterns, construct information, and more. Track changes and data separately for TG and KO models.

PC Colony Management

The PC platform is where your staff will search through litters, mating pairs, breeding lines, and all other information that relates to the management of your colony.  The filters that are built in, allow for searching via protocol, line name, cage information, gender, genotype, strain, DOB, and many other criteria.  You can export your line into Excel, and bring any data with you to a meeting.

Animal Management

After filtering, you can select and maintain individual animals.  The information that is tracked, such as,  room/facility location, percent chimera, coat color, ear/tail marking information, RFID, pedigree information etc, will ensure that all the data that you or your investigators will need will be captured.

Mating Pair Management

Another helpful view is the mating pair view.  This is where you can get a handle on all of your mating pairs in a single view.  Filter by animal ID, line name, mating pair ID, etc.  You can then drill down into the mating pair, and view the litters of that mating pair, and manage your colony from a whole new perspective.

Color Cage Cards

Take the guess work out of your breeding line identification by using the automatic color cage cards.  You can assign colors by line, strain, or F / N generation.  No special barcode printer is necessary; all that you will need is a regular color ink/jet or laser printer.

Census Module

The Animal Bioware™ system’s mobile module is an application which resides on the Symbol Palm™.  It was created to allow mobile information to be collected and displayed out where the action really happens - at the cage.

The menu system allows personnel of various security levels to access different parts of the system based on their level.   The user can login in using a traditional user name & password, or to use a login barcode – which they place on their person, scan it, and gain automatic entry into the system.

Performing a Census

The system has been designed to perform a census rapidly, accurately, and as simply as possible.  The process is a simple click and point process.  The husbandry staff would merely do the following:

Scan the Room – Each room has a barcode near the door, which as they enter will be scanned.

Scan the Rack – Each rack will have a barcode on it, which will be scanned before performing a census.

Scan the Cages – This is a quick as a grocery store scanner.  Each cage is scanned one after the next.

When the husbandry staff person is finished, simply place the palm on its cradle, and push the synchronization button on the cradle.

Cage Card Printing

In Animal Bioware™ a cage card printing utility is supplied, that allows you staff or investigators to print cage cards.  This may be distributed across your organization and will directly connect to the back end server. 

We created this application to allow either your staff or research staff to print cage cards when they need them.  You may also wish to control cage card printing, and keep it to your staff only.  This is done by deploying the Husbandry Module.  The decision is yours.

The application allows, for color cage cards as well.  This means that if your community is breeding a certain line, those cages could be one color and another line or strain another color.  This requires a color ink/jet or laser printer to be present, but does not require any special barcode printing equipment.

Also, the utility is pull-down driven, which means that your data stays consistent and accurate.  It also helps untrained staff know exactly what is required, and what the options are. 

Cage Cards

The cage cards that are produced may be printed without the need of a barcode printer, and print on standard Avery 3X5 cage card stock.  The card would contain all pertinent information, and color bars if requested.

PC - Census

On the PC, there are various components which allow you to manage your animal census program.  Some of the basic functionality is as follows:

Visual Census – At a glance, let your facility managers; see their census visually, in graph form.  They can also change the graphs to filter by Room, Rack, Grant, and many more options

Census Histories – Keeps your census information digitally, so that you can hold historical information on your census.  Whether the animal commissioner, USDA or other regulatory agencies need to view it, you have it.

Feed Billing or Other Systems – If you have to create a data feed for your billing system, you can easily export the census information directly into MS-Excel, or use our Billing Module to automatically create invoices.

Census Reports

The PC has several reports available that allow you to understand your census.  These reports can be filtered by many criteria, some of which are:

• By Facility
• By Room
• By Protocol
• By Investigator
• By Grant / Project
• By Department
• By Species
• By Strain
• By Date

These criteria can also be combined, so that a multi-criteria filter can be created:

A concrete example of this might be: List the Census for all Mice, in Facility X, which has the person ‘John Smith’ listed as the investigator, for the month of January.

Facilities Module

With the Animal Bioware facilities module, your facility managers are in control of all aspects of their facility.  They can manage the following:

Animal Order Allocation & Scheduling

Give your managers the option to manage the scheduling, utilization, and space in their facilities.  They can approve orders for allocation, or deny them due to space constraints.

Manage the Staff

The facilities managers can assign various requests that come in from the investigator community.  These requests can range from cage card / protocol changes, to euthanization requests.

Predict Space

Using the current census, incoming orders and End of Study information, your managers have access to a series of delivery and predictive reports.

Quality Control Checks

Using a centralized portal, your managers can review door inspection lists, and room inspection information gathered from the Palm Pilot.

Husbandry Module

With the Animal Bioware Husbandry Module,  your husbandry staff perform duties such as:

• Receive Animal Orders  / Housing
• Print Cage Cards
• Reprint Cards / Wean Animals
• Manage Cage Information
• Print Room and Rack Labels

Printing Bar-coded  Cage Cards

With three clicks, your husbandry staff can print bar-coded cage cards, receive animals, and create cages all simultaneously.

Cage Maintenance

With the cage maintenance functionality of the system, your staff can keep track of each cage, and the information that goes on that cage.  Information such as, protocol, species, strain, end of study date, room, rack, cage color, date of birth, and much more.

Resubmission Re-Print

After a protocol goes through a resubmission, much of the information that is on the current cage cards needs to be replaced.  With a few clicks the IACUC manager communicates these changes to staff, and within minutes new cage cards could be printing out to replace the old cards.

Other barcodes

The system relies heavily on barcodes in order to provide fast & accurate data entry.  Within the Husbandry Module are the facilities to print many of these barcodes.  Such as:

• Login Labels – for Quick Login
• Room Labels
• Rack Labels
• Animal Health Condition Labels

IACUC Process

The IACUC Module is the most complete online protocol creation and management module available in the industry today.  It covers the IACUC process from start to finish, allowing for online web based protocol creation, amendments, and revisions.  It manages the committee review process, meeting minutes, agenda creation, and annual reviews.  The module also connects directly into the other modules in the suite, to manage and feed those modules.

Web Based Protocol Creation

The IACUC web module allows your investigator community and staff to see and manage their protocols.  They can create draft protocols to work on over time, or to allow their staff to collaborate on protocol creation.  They can also create amendments, and revisions by simply clicking and following the web based wizard.  Once approved, the system will automatically roll the changes into a new final – preserving all versions of the protocol for compliance purposes.

Web Based Protocol Wizard

With this self guided web wizard, your investigators will find creating a protocol simple and easy, and you will find that their protocols are standard and conform to the business rules that you and the committee have outlined.  The wizard is a self guided protocol builder that asks the investigator all pertinent information that is needed to build up a protocol.

They can save these drafts, and come back at anytime and continue with the protocol.  When finished a rules engine checks the protocol and starts it down the IACUC approval process:

Web Based Process Review

At anytime, your investigators and their staff can view at a glance where their protocols are in the process.  This helps reduce phone calls to your IACUC coordinators, and also provides a higher level of customer service.

Web Based Committee Managment

In this area of the module, your committee members stay connected to what is happening with the various protocols, agendas, meeting minutes, and approvals/votes that are involved in managing your protocols.  Specific items are:

My Approvals

Allows your committee members, no matter how remote, to take part in the approval, revision, and voting process.  They can approve protocols and make comments for future revisions.

Agendas / Meeting Minutes

The information presented to your members gives them everything that is going to be discussed in the form of meeting agendas, as well as, what has been discussed in the form of the meeting minutes.  It is all available for compliance review, or easier distribution.

Protocols Pending Review

Quickly and simply, every committee member has access to all of the protocols, revisions and amendments in the review process.  They can click on the protocols, always receiving the latest version, and email it to each other or themselves.

PC Based Management

The PC platform is where your IACUC coordinators would go for complete control of all protocols, all versions, amendments, and annual reviews.  They can set the various dates on the protocol, and produce turn around time reports to investigators or committee members.

PC Set the Protocol Anywhere in Process

With the unique protocol re-tracker, the IACUC managers, can put a protocol anywhere in the review process.  This helps manage the protocol more efficiently, and bypass any bottle necks in the process.

Produce Compliant Protocol Documents

The system allows anyone involved in the process, whether the IACUC coordinator, the investigator, or someone on the committee, to produce & print compliant protocol documentation and hard copies.  No more merging of word files or trying to figure out who has the latest version.  They system automatically delivers the latest protocol, and all pertinent information – either electronically for email delivery, or via printed hard copy.

Manage Annual Renewals Online

Quickly manage all of your annual reviews online, by having the system automatically email out annual renewals reminders, and managing that return information simply. 

Technical Services Module

Whether you need to manage and schedule, necropsy requests, blood collection requests, pathology requests, dosing requests, this is the module that allows your staff and you to make sense of it all. 

Web Wizard

 The module starts with a web wizard, and walks the requestor through all of the questions, study design, and specifics needed to place a request. 

Schedule & Resource Requirements

For each request, the system try’s to predict the human resources needed to fulfill the request.  This helps you get a handle on the staff requirements, and what requests will be done and when.

Email Notification

The module also has the standard Animal Bioware™ email notification infrastructure built right in.  This keeps everyone informed as to the requests progress, and approval status.

Training Module

The Animal Bioware™  Training Module provides a central location for you and your staff to administrate an online training program within your organization.  It has an online component to allow for online course delivery, and testing.  It also has a PC component for all administration duties.

The Training Module covers the following web functionality:

• View Online Training Content
• Take Online Training Tests
• View their Historical Training Records

The module covers the following PC functionality:

• Securely Login
• Review Training Results
• Review Training History
• Publish / Maintain Training Course

Online Interface

An online interface is available for all training enabled staff to enable them to take part in the following:

• Review & Participate in Online Training Content
• Be Tested on that Content. 
• Have Test Results Emailed to themselves & Training Personnel

Online History

An online historical view of the course taken is also available to the particular user logged into the system. This provides the end user with the course, date taken, and overall scores.

The training results would also be available to the supervisor of the employee, for review and discussion.

Online Content

Online content is delivered in a single package, and can cover your specific SOP’s.  The content would be developed by in-house resources within your organization. 

Depicted below, is an example of what online training content & templates might look like:

Email Flow

The online training system provides an email flow for training content, test results, and overall notifications.  This happens automatically, and at various points in the system.  The time points in the system, where these events will happen are:

When a Training Test is Submitted

After a training course and subsequent tests are taken, the end user will submit their answers to the system.  The system will then grade the test, and send the results out to the supervisor, and end user.

When Test Results are Requested

An end user or supervisor, when requested could have a copy of any particular test or course emailed to them.  This would be available for all historical / current courses / tests.

Administration

The PC application also contains an administrators module, that can be used to maintain the following:

• Companies
• Departments
• Email List information
• Facility Information
• Investigator / Requestor Information
• Order Blackout Dates
• Projects/Grants
• Rack Information
• Room Information / Cage Capacities
• Species
• Staff Information / Security Levels
• Strains
• Units of Measure
• Vendor Information
• And More

Overview

By leveraging several well known and proprietary technologies, Digital Paradigms has created products that are highly modular, modern, and scalable. Our ideal architecture is to create modular building blocks of technology so that each applied use of that technology can be seamlessly connected, separately purchased, upgraded, and scaled. Key technologies in use & within our products are:

Web Technologies

In order to provide a standardized environment, one that is known, scalable, and supportable by your personnel, we have selected Microsoft’s .Net framework as our primary web technology.  The .Net platform is quickly becoming the most widely adopted web standard in business today.  Some of the components used in the system include:

• Microsoft’s Internet Information Server
• Windows 2000 / 2003 Server
• Visual Basic .Net
• Server Scripting such as ASP

Database Technologies

In order to reduce total cost of ownership, we have selected to support two database backend standards.  This model will allow you to use whichever database is native to your operation, without needing to purchase or create a new database standard.

In addition, we also offer hosted options, which allow you to utilize our hosted servers, located in level 3 fault tolerant & secure data centers across the country.

For our database backend standards, we have selected both Microsoft’s SQL Server 2000 /2005, and Oracle’s Database Platform versions 7-10g. Both of which offer

• Application Hosting
• Robust Server Architectures
• Database Clustering & Fault Tolerance
• Database Authentication & Security
• Intergradations with ODBC with .Net Servers
• Full Text Search

Scalability

The Animal Bioware™ system can be expanded to any number of Palm Pilots and Facilities, to help service any number of Protocols, Investigators, Veterinary Technicians, and Husbandry Staff. 

As the Animal Bioware™ technology is absorbed by your operation; it can then be easily modified to start taking advantage of the other modules offered in the Animal Bioware Suite™.

SPT1800  Palm Pilot

The scanner that we have chosen in our technology plan is Symbol’s SPT-1800 Palm Pilot.  The SPT 1800 offers ruggedized data communications capabilities.  It is available in both batch and wireless configurations, and operates on the standardized Palm platform.  Detailed attention to ergonomics and sleekly rounded edges provide a secure fit in the hand. At 7 in. 17.8 cm high the SPT 1800 easily slips into a pocket. Weighing just 10.6 oz/300 gm, this powerful productivity tool is a perfect fit for our project.

The scan engine in the SPT 1800 family is the SE 900 from Symbol Technologies. This state-of-the-art scan engine, the smallest, lightest and brightest available today delivers premium performance even at ranges of up to 30 in. 76.2 cm. The SPT 1800-2D houses the SE 900HS high-performance scan engine, optimized for PDF417.  It includes a high-contrast, anti-reflective liquid crystal display makes data easy to read in low light or outdoors. A rechargeable lithium-ion battery and optional single- and multi-slot cradle configurations.

Front End Technologies

Due to its widespread adoption, and support, we have selected the MS-Office Access 2000-2003 platform for our front end.  This product is standard in most business and institutional environments, and has built in report writing, and query creation tools. 

Animal Bioware Intelligent Agent  Software

The Animal Bioware Series II Intelligent Agent has been developed by Digital Paradigms in order to seamlessly integrate between various data sources.  The Agent’s flexibility provides for easy creation of synchronization jobs, and allows for disjoined systems to be connect–regardless of data types or sizes.  Functionality includes:

Data Sources / Destinations

·         Palm Pilot Synchronization

·         MS-Access connectivity

·         Send Key functionality for remote automation

·         Any ODBC driver connectivity

·         Any OLE Database connectivity

·         SQL Server connectivity

·         ISAM Data Sources (Excel, Text, Dbase)

·         Ability to Run Access Modules

·         Ability to Run .EXE programs

Flexibility

The software is completely flexible, allowing for the change of field names, sizes, and data types.  The agent can be changed by a system administer to connect to virtually any data source, if that source should change, the agent can be reconfigured on the fly – with no programming or development. 

Audit Trail

The agent includes a full event log type audit mechanism, and security mechanism that can easily report directly into an NT/XP/Windows 2000 event log. 

Connectivity

The agent can sync data via several connectivity models. The agent can sync via a Wireless Gateway, the Internet, Directly via WAN drive, or via standard ODBC connectivity drivers.

Offerings

Digital Paradigms offers a range of choices when it comes to helping your staff work with any of our products and many of the technologies that we offer in our suite. We offer in-house onsite training, web based courses, and a training facility at our Boston site.  Some of the offerings are:

• Basic Bar-Coding
• PDA/Mobile Device Operations
• Animal Bioware™ Modules
• Animal Bioware ™
• Animal Bioware ™ System Administration
• Introduction to Report Writing
• Introduction to Database Admin
• Intermediate Database Admin
• MS-Access Development
• SQL-Server Development
• Advanced Bio-Informatics

Identity

Throughout this document, you might have seen that we often co-brand the system to reflect your operation.  If desired, we place our client's logos, department names, and contact information throughout the product. 

We feel that this helps create a point of identity within your organization, and allows for a seamless look with your SOP’s, forms, and other literature.

Certification & Memberships

In order for Digital Paradigms to provide high quality products and services, we ask all of our staff to be certified in their field of expertise.  We utilize consultants, veterinarians, research staff, IACUC coordinators, and many others to help with the testing & creation our products.

Customization & Consulting

In addition to our product offerings, we offer customization, development, and database architectural services.  This allows our clients to further integrate our services to their environment.

We also have integration & consulting services available, to help with the effort that a system’s integration may require.  This helps eliminate much of the burden of project management & IT coordination that may be required for a particular system implementation.

Animal Industry Partners

Our animal industry partners have helped us create a modular system that has more overall functionality than any other product on the market today.  In each case, our clients have helped us grow our system and in many cases brought field level expertise to help with its development.

Non-Industry Partners

Our non-animal industry partners have looked toward Digital Paradigms for our bar-coding, business process development, or database expertise.        

Abstract Presented at 55th AALAS 2004

In October 2004, Digital Paradigms in conjunction with Massachusetts General Hospital – Center for Comparative Medicine, presented an abstract & case study, which analyzed the efficiencies, compliance, and productivity enhancements experienced by using the Animal Bioware™ system in their operation.  Areas of most improvement are as listed this section:

Billing Accuracy Improved

One of the most visible areas to senior management which improved was in the area of billing accuracy & billing turn around times.  Protocol and grant billing errors were reduced, more cages were billed, and the time to invoice was greatly reduced – as depicted below:

Census Time & Effort Reduced

Another area of dramatic improvement was in census speed, and the number of staff required to perform a census.  Not only did the census speed improve, but this increase in productivity allowed for daily census rather weekly census, and the results were much more accurate.

Census Accuracy

With the automated census, and its direct connection with protocol, grant, and investigator information, virtually all census data errors were eliminated.

Cage Card Compliance Increased

Another area of improvement is in the area of cage card compliance.  The cage cards are printed much more accurately as the housing process starts, and are kept updated in the system; and are easily reprinted.   All of this keeping the cage card compliance rates much higher versus the manual systems.

Clinical Rounds Response Time Reduced

In the area of animal health, the veterinary technician response times were greatly reduced.  This can be directly correlated with the system wide emails that are sent to Investigators and staff, and by the pager alerts sent for extreme animal health issues.