Early Psychosis Intervention Network (EPINET) Data Coordinating Center

About This Grant

ABSTRACT This application outlines and describes the Westat Team’s proposed approach to continuing to serve as the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Early Psychosis Intervention Network (EPINET) National Data Coordinating Center (ENDCC). The current ENDCC, in partnership with NIMH, successfully collaborated with eight regional scientific hubs composed of 110 Coordinated Specialty Care (CSC) programs to fulfill the original design of EPINET by doing the following: establishing a Core Assessment Battery (CAB) of common measures; creating a harmonized and consolidated set of CAB data across the eight regional hubs for over 5,000 CSC program participants; developing and hosting an Analyst Zone that provides a secure method for accessing and analyzing the EPINET harmonized and consolidated data set; and submitting the required data to the NIMH National Data Archive (NDA). The ENDCC also developed additional components beyond the original EPINET design, including a web-based CAB data collection suite (WebCAB) and a Program Level CAB (PL-CAB). In the upcoming funding cycle, we will use the structures and processes already developed and implemented by the ENDCC to refine and expand the role of the ENDCC. The existing ENDCC health informatics infrastructure will incorporate enhanced data quality and validation processes, as well as expedited data transmission methods to create a FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) dataset accessible to a wide range of scientific investigators. Next-generation data analytic tools, visualization methods and techniques, data query approaches, and dashboards will enable data to be turned into relevant program- and practice-level information. The knowledge gained and the data collected will be used to refine existing data collection tools and protocols in collaboration with members of the EPINET Research Consortium. Work initiated by the ENDCC and currently underway on the fidelity and quality of care measures and variables necessary as the context for participant-level CAB variables will be fully implemented. The ENDCC will expand on its current success in engaging CSC programs beyond those participating directly in EPINET, including enhancing the WebCAB data collection system, designed specifically for widespread implementation, to extend its role to CSC programs with common measures and metrics.