Over time, the questions that are being asked in a registry can change: new questions are added, other questions become obsolete, or even the list of potential answers for a given question can change.
To account for these changes, the HD4DP application works with versions for a registration form. Per data collection (e.g. that of 2015) only one version can be active.

The participation panel gives more information about the different versions that exist for a given registry and allow you to manage which version(s) you're working on.

• Select 'participation' in the top menu to navigate to the registry participation panel
• Select the registry of your choice in the dropdown menu

In the left panel, the most recent versions of the registration form for each data collection are visible:

When a version is selected, the user gets an insight of the history and current status of the register in the right panel by using sections and key dates and to give the user the option to go view the report or to finalize the collection of the data by using the action buttons. 

Sections

The different versions are split up in 3 sections:

• Participating: shows the versions of the registration forms that a user is currently actively participating in. Normally, this should only be one version
• Available for participation: other available versions for a user
  • ​​To start participating on this version, please refer to the article Participate in a data collection
• Finalized: all the versions for that registry where your organization has indicated that you are finished with collecting data for a given data collection round (Finalize the data collection)

Key dates

Selecting a version by clicking on it gives a user more information about some key dates as determined by the registry responsible:

• Start date: from this date on, this registration form is available for activation by the data providers. Once activated, new registrations can be created
• End creation date: from this date on, it is no longer possible to create new registrations using this registration form. Submitting and/or correcting existing registrations remains possible
• End submission date:  from this date on, it is no longer possible to submit registrations. It is only possible to correct existing registrations and to submit these registrations
• End comment date: the data collection is no longer active and no corrections can be done

Action buttons

Notice that there are two buttons:

• Create and submit a registration
• Finalize the data collection

The Data Collection view leads a user to the existing registers. A user can start collecting data from this view.

See also "Create and submit a registration"

The reporting part of the menu leads to the Healthstat.be website.

Healthstat.be is the data visualization platform of the Healthdata.be project, which is part of the national Action Plan eHealth 2013-2018. Here, the researchers publish tables, figures and maps they made based on the data they have collected among Belgian hospitals, laboratories, physicians, and patients.

With these reports, researchers want to give health professionals, healthcare institutions, patients, governments and the general public an up-to-date insight into the prevalence of certain diseases, their causes and impact, and the effectiveness of their treatment.

Healthstat.be is a service of the Sciensano and funded by the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance.

This article explains how a user can customize the list view in HD4DP. The list is shown in default view list. The view list can easily be adapted to the needs of the user. These are the main actions to customize the view list:

• Sorting
• Filtering
• Columns displayed
• Number of registrations per page

Sorting

By simply clicking on a column header, all registrations are sorted ascending or descending according to this column.

Filtering

Predefined filters are provided to filter on the most commonly used columns.
Click 'Clear filters' to display all registrations again.

Columns displayed

For each registry, the researcher has defined a default view that consists of a set of columns. To display this set of columns, click 'Restore default view' as illustrated below.

You can add and remove any columns. While columns can be removed by clicking on the 'x' at the top right of each column, adding columns is done via the 'gear icon' at the right of the table.

An interesting colum to add to the overview is the Progress Bar where you can see the status of every registration. The bar represents the status of the fields i.e. valid, invalid or optional.

Number of registrations per page

The number of registrations displayed per page can contain 10, 25, 50 or 100 registrations per page. 

• Go to the Data Collection section and select the version in which you want to participate.
• Click the button "Go to the participation page":

Click on ‘Participate’ and then you can click on ‘Go to data collection’:

This article explains the different registration statuses in HD4DP v1 as of v1.8.

Where to find the status of a registration?

Statuses are shown in 'Status' column which is per default the first column in the overview:

What is a Status Confirmation?

The status confirmation gives information about the arriving of the data in HD4DP. The status confirmation, which is in fact a substatus of a registration is shown in the column 'Status confirmation'. 

To view the 'Status Confirmation', modify the list view add the column 'Status confirmation':

As soon as a registration is sent and has status 'Submitted', the confirmation column will show the following substatus:

• Pending
• OK: the registration has arrived
• NOK: the registration did not arrive within 48 hours

The different registration statuses

 Open*: a registration is created and stored. It has not been submitted

 Sending: the registration is being sent to HD4RES

 Submitted: the registration has been sent to HD4RES. This does not necessarily mean that the registration has arrived in HD4RES

 Registrations in status 'Corrections needed'*: the researcher verified the registration and added some comments. Review the comments and correct where necessary

 Approved: the researcher verified and approved the registration

 Registrations with status 'Follow-up needed'*: a follow-up registration is needed for this registration. Fill in the newly available fields

 Error: your account is not authorized to create and submit registration for this register. Please contact support.

* action is required from the user

The below scheme summarizes the different registration statuses in HD4DP and Processing Data and their relation to each other:

The Data Collection view leads a user to the existing registers. A user can start collecting data from this view.

Creating and submitting a registration consists of 4 steps:

• Select the register for creating a registration.

• Click on "New registration" button.

• Fill in the registration form and save or submit the registration

• Save the registration temporarily if needed. The status of the record will be "Open" for saved registrations.​

• Submit the registration if  no validation errors present. The status of the registration will change to "Sending".

• When the record has been processed, the status will change to "Submitted".

As soon as a registration is sent, the "status confirmation" column will show "Pending".

• ​It shows "OK" once the registration has arrived, and "NOK" if the registration did not arrive within 48 hours. If the status is "NOK", the software will automatically try to resend the registration up to 10 days after the initial submission.
• For the statuses "Sending","Corrections needed" and "Approved" the status confirmation will be empty because the registration has not yet been submitted.
• A registration can be "Reopened" if needed as long as the status of the registration is "Submitted".

A user can modify and complete a registration in four steps:

• Select the register from which you wish to modify one or more registration(s).

• Click on the registration to be changed, and complete the form in full. The status of the record is then:
  • Open for registrations saved manually or by uploading a csv file
  • Corrections needed for registrations with errors

• Save registration temporarily if necessary. Record status becomes Open for stored registrations.

• Send the registration if there are no more validation errors.
  • Registration status changes to Sending

• When the record is processed, the status changes to Submitted.

Once a registration is sent, the message Pending appears in the status confirmation column.

• When the registration is received, the message OK appears; if the registration is not received within 48 hours, the message NOK appears. With the status "NOK", the software will automatically try to send the registration up to 10 days after the initial submission.
• For the statuses Sending, Corrections needed and Approved, the status confirmation is empty because the registration has not yet been sent.
• A registration can be Reopened if necessary, as long as the status of the registration is "Submitted".

Registrations with status 'Corrections needed' need to be revised. The researcher has comments that require an update or revision.

• Select the record with status 'Corrections needed'

• Verify and react to the comments made by the researcher by selecting the ‘comments’ tab

• Reply to the comments and modify the registration and save the comment

• Click 'Re-submit' to send the corrections to the researcher. Alle validation errors need to be solved before the 'Re-submit' button becomes available

Some registrations need follow-up e.g. to monitor multiple consultations of a patient. Therefore additional information will be asked at predefined milestones, which are defined in the set-up phase of the registry. 
Follow-up registrations can be triggered by:

• Timing e.g. x time after the initial registration
• Answers in the initial registration e.g. only if the patient has taken medication X
• A combination of both e.g. if the patient has taken medication X, ask follow-up information 3 months later

If the Status column shows 'Follow-up needed' and the 'Follow up' column is active, the user can add the extra information needed in the details of the registration.

Note: the process of validation and resending the registration(s) back for the follow-up data takes minimum 4 hours.

Select 'Follow up' in the settings of the view:

The Follow-up column is now shown in the view:

When follow-up is needed, the column 'Follow up' in the list view indicates if follow-up is needed by indicating:

• Planned:  follow-up will be needed in the future, indicated by the date indication
  • 'Status Column' shows 'Submitted', no action is needed at this moment 
• Active:​ the questions for this follow up are now visible and can be filled
  • 'Status Column' shows 'Follow-up needed', action is needed
• Submitted:  the follow-up column will change to submitted after the additional information is given
  • 'Status Column' shows 'Submitted', no more action is needed

Depending on how many times follow-up is needed, a row is added to the column. The milestones are indicated by t1, t2 etc. 

The researcher needs to be notified if the data collection is ready. 

There are 2 ways to finalize the data collection:

1. By using the link in the Data Collection tab:

2. By using the button in the Participation tab:

• Confirm finalization of the data collection:

Sometimes additional data is requested by the researcher. This must be completed first before using the finalize button or link.

After you select the finalize button, the researcher will be notified. 

• The registrations that need to be submitted, have to be checked to proceed the registration in bulk
• Click on the button 'Actions' and select 'Submit registrations'. The number of selected records is displayed between brackets​​

• Confirm the submission on the window that appears

• A summary of the registrations that are submitted and failed is shown. The records that contain errors will not be submitted

There are 3 ways to upload CSV files with data into HD4DP v1:

• Manually
  • In de HD4DP application
  • In the specific folders on the server (provisioning)
• Automatically
  • in the specific folders on the server (fasttrack)

The file can be maximum 6 MB. 

When using the manual upload by using te application or putting files on the server (provisioning), the registrations still need to be manually submitted.

When using the fasttrack method, submission is done automatically.

Manually in the HD4DP application

Data can be uploaded by using the same approach as we use for the stable data.

More information can be found in the article "CSV download and upload for stable data".

Manually in the application folders

HD4DP allows to import files from the folders used by the application.

Save the created CSV file in the correct register folder of your organization or sub-organisation. The folders of the sub-organizations are to be find in the subfolders of the main organization.

When uploading a CSV, a check is performed for each record if any corresponding record is already available in the application. The check for corresponding data is based on the unique id. If a record is already available in the application a merge takes place between the existing record and the new CSV. In case of conflicts, the values of the new CSV are implemented.

The uploaded registrations will be automaticallyuploaded in the HD4DP application.

They will need to be manually validated and submitted in the application.

Automatically in the application folders

The goal of the CSV fast track is to automatically transmit complete valid CSV files to healthdata without human intervention. The following topics must be taken into account when using the CSV fast track. HD4DP allows to automatically import files from dedicated folders. On the server where HD4DP is installed, create a new folder next to the provisioning and stable data folders.

After creating the fast track folder, you must configure the location of the dedicated folder in HD4DP by adapting the configuration parameter "FAST_TRACK_DIRECTORY" in the admin configuration panel. 

Subfolders contributing to the organization and data collections, will  automatically be created according to a specific folder structure. 

In this video a more profound explanation about how to set up the fast-track is given:

When a CSV file is placed in the folder of a data collection, several actions can occur: 

• If the file could not be manipulated (e.g. an invalid CSV or a data collection that has not yet started) the file is moved to ARCHIVE_ERROR
• If the file was successfully read but only partially valid, the file will be split accordingly.
  • e.g: line1 is valid, line2 ignored because of duplicate record, line3 contains an error
    • a CSV file containing line1 will be placed in SUCCESS
    • a CSV file containing line2 will be placed in IGNORE
    • a CSV file containing line3 will be placed in ERROR and an extra column is added which explains why the CSVs raised an error.
    • the original CSV will be moved to ARCHIVE
• If the file is successfully read and validated, it is moved entirely to both the SUCCESS folder and the ARCHIVE folder.

This document goes through a list of issues which users could encounter when uploading a CSV file in HD4DP v1. The article provides by tips and tricks to overcome these issues.

How should I create a CSV file?

Several methods can be used for creating a .csv file :

• Download the .csv file for your data collection on https://www.healthdata.be/dcd/#/collections
• Consult this article first
• Use a spreadsheet  (e.g. Microsoft Excel, OpenCalc)
• Save the document using one of the 2 following methods :
  • Use the spreadsheet and make sure the file saved use semi-column (;) as separator to fitting the standard of healthdata.be. Depending of the spreadsheet used, the creation of the .csv file containing semi-columns as file separators, could be carried out in 2 steps :
    • save the file as .csv file containing commas as column separators
    • edit the .csv file with a text editor and replace the commas by semi-column
  • Copy the data in a note editor and save it as .csv file
    • on Microsoft : notepad, notepad++
    • on Macintosh : textedit;app

How to find the technical requirements for a field in the registration?

• Consult the registration requirements for each field in the data collection definition, as shown below :
  • Field Type e.g. text, boolean, choice, date, patient
  • CSV column_name 
  • Required : 'true' means that is a mandatory field and it has be present within the .csv extract

• Postal code missing : use the value 999
• Postal code for people living abroad : 9999

How to perform a massive deletion of records with HD4DP v1?

• If your HD4DP version is not yet version 1.10.3 (consult this website for getting informed with HD4DP version), contact support.healthdata.be@sciensano.be
• For future releases, the functionality is available

How should I treat NISS code with leading zeros when creating my csv?

 For treating leading 0s of a national registry number (NISS), you can fill in the field 'patient_id' by adding a simple quote (')  before the leading zeros as follows:

• as is : 0007788..
• to be: '0007788...

We advice the use of Excel TEXT function for formatting your NISS field for adding leading zeros. You can consult the following article for more information.

Can I use both Windows and Macintosh file for creating a csv file?

• From the HD4DP version 1.10.3, you create your CSV file can either on Windows or Macintosh
• For older versions, you can create a CSV on Macintosh buy you have to save it on a Windows environment before uploading it in HD4DP

How should I format the date fields within my csv extract?

The date format has to be dd/mm/yyyy, therefore  make sure the date format is correct by consulting your .csv file before uploading. Open the file with a text editor and not a spreadsheet and check the format date.

How should I proceed with deceased patient?

• Put a value in the field 'patient | deceased' 
  • TRUE if patient deceased
  • FALSE if patient alive
• Put the date of death in the field 'patient_id | date_of_death'  if the patient is deceased 

How can I fix errors with the automatic generation of Patient_ID?

• If you do not dispose of a national number of the patient, a patient_id will be generated automatically. This is called a 'codepat' and you can find more information in the article "What is a codepat and how is it calculated?" 
• If you use a codepat, you should use the substrings function for extracting the name and first name from the codepat field to fill in the strings from the 'CODEPAT': 
  • patient_id | name
  • patient_id | first_name
• Below, an example of use of substring functions directly applied on the 'CODEPAT' for carrying this information extraction
  • patient_id | name  = MID(cell,9,2)   
  • patient_id | first_name =MID(cell,11,2)
  • patient_id | generated has to set to 'TRUE'
  • patient_id | sex has to be set to 'M' (Male) or 'F'(Female)
• Test this procedure using the following csv extract, you should get the 'patient_id' filled in automatically

​Example:CODEPAT;patient_id;patient_id|generated;patient_id|internal_patient_id;patient_id|
name;patient_id|first_name;patient_id|date_of_birth;patient_id|sex;patient_id|deceased;
patient_id|place_of_residence;HIVType;RNA_DATE;RNA_VALUE;RNA_SPECIMEN;
RNA_ASSAY;DNA_PCR_DATE;DNA_PCR_VALUE19711125JADAM;71112535971;;;;;25/11/1971;M;;2000;
HIV1;12/12/2016;25;B;99;;19711125JADAM;19711125JADAM;TRUE;;JA;DA;25/11/1971;M;;2000;
HIV1;05/10/2016;82;B;90;;

• Pay attention cases when the substring function returned values as DE, DU IN, LA, LE, OP in the field 'patient_id | name', you should add one characteristic 

e.g. LE could become LEE or DE could become DEE 

Which norm of country code should I use in my csv extract?

Fill in the field 'NATION' using the the 2-digits ISO standard 3166alpha2 format.

How can I make sure that there are no spaces in cells left empty?

Make sure there is no spaces in cells left empty by searching the 'SPACE' characters (e.g. CTRL-F and push on the SPACE touch).
Remove all the spaces in cells left empty by replacing all the 'SPACE' characters by an empty string '' (e.g. CTRL-H and replace the 'SPACE' characters by an empty field '').

How can I treat the numbers with decimals?

The decimal separator must be the comma (e.g. 1,78 ; 1,89)

What are the not supported postal codes?

What values to use when postal code is missing or for patient living abroad?

Missing postal code : 999
Patient living abroad : 9999

Stable data are data that remains the same or ‘stable’ over time e.g. birht data.
Since one of the main objectives of Healthdata is to reduce the registration effort, we want to avoid that this stable data has to be entered manually over and over again.

Stable data can be reused in 4 ways:

• At first data collection via HD4DP
• After 1st data collection period via HD4DP
• Across registers
• By recoding registers

At first data collection via HD4DP v1

• Only for registers that used eHealth coded NISS before healthdata (BCFR, BNMDR, IQED, IQECAD) 
• For these registers, a recoding needs to be done by eHealth: from the ‘old’ project-specific key to the healthdata key
• Once this is done, a subset of relevant historical data is uploaded to HD4DP

• In HD4DP v1, when creating a new registration with a NISS present in the historical data, the stable data is automatically enriched

After 1st data collection period via HD4DP

There are 2 options:

Enrichment on NISS

• When creating a new registration for a patient that was already registered in a previous data collection period, the stable data for this patient will be automatically fetched and used to prefill the new registration
• To check which fields are marked as ‘stable’, see www.healthdata.be/dcd 

Csv download & upload

• Some registers (BCFR, BNMDR) prefer to create registrations in bulk with stable data
• Stable data from previous data collection period can be exported cf. article "CSV download and upload for stable data"

Across registers

• Currently only possible via manual csv download and upload  cf. article "CSV download and upload for stable data"
• Will become automatic in Q2 or Q3 release.

Recode registers

• For registers that did not use eHealth coded NISS as patient identifiers, but that wish to link the data collected without healthdata with the data collected with healthdata (longitudinal analysis)
• A subset of relevant historical data is sent to HD4DP
• Centres are asked to complete the registration with the NISS
• Examples: BCFRecode, IQECAD_Recode, IQED_Recode
• Researchers can not validate these data in the ‘standard’ way. This has to a manual job/interaction between DWH team and researcher
• For clarifications to be done for IQED_Recode contact the support team support.healthdata@sciensano.be

Before starting a new data collection based on stable data of another data collection, you need to finalize the data collection which serves as the starting point of your new data collection cf. article "Finalize the data collection"

To start the new data collection select the new version in the Data collection section. In this case v3. 

Click the button "Go to the participation page":

• Click on ‘Participate’:

• The Start date in the Participation status will be updated and access to the new version is completed and the user can return to the Data Collection section:

• Once the previous data collection is finalized and the new one has been started, you can download data from the first version and add those to the next version. 

• Go to the Registrations tab:

• Download the data by using the Download button "CSV Download All (Stable Data)":

When everything is downloaded, you can start uploading by Using the upload center.

New accounts have to be created to give users acces to the application and the data: 

• Log in using an administrator account
• Go to the Dashboard in the menu 

• Under 'User Management', click 'Add user'

The form to create a user is shown:

• ​Enter a Username and create a password
• Select the User Rights for the user
  • a 'data provider' account can enter and submit data
  • an 'administrator' account can create users and change the configuration settings

• Choose 'Enable' 
• If the user is a 'data provider', select the registries the user should have access to

• Confirm the creation of a new account by clicking 'Save'

• Login as admin and select ‘User requests’

• You will see an overview of all the requests:

• Select the request that you want to approve. 
• Check the data in the request
• Simply click 'Approve' and the user account is active

• The user will receive an email that his or her account is accepted. This e-mail provides the necessary information to login i.e. username, password. 

This is how to verify whether your HD4DP is connected to a LDAP server:

• Go to the 'Configurations' button in the left panel 'Configurations'​

• Check the configuration parameter 'USER_MANAGEMENT_TYPE'.
  • If it is set on 'DATABASE_LDAP',  HD4DP is connected to your local LDAP for its authentication

If it is set on 'DATABASE',  the HD4DP is used for user management​.

New accounts have to be created to give users acces to the application and the data: 

• Log in using an admin account
• Go to the Dashboard in the menu 

• Under 'User Management', click 'Add user'

• Search a user from LDAP list under 'Username'
• ​Select the non-migrated user by clicking on the name
• Select the User Rights for this user
  • a 'data provider' account can enter and submit data
  • an 'administrator' account can create users and change the configuration settings
• Choose 'Enable' 
• If the user is a 'data provider', select the registries the user should have access to

• Confirm the creation of a new account by clicking 'Save'

Approving user requests when your HD4DP is connected to LDAP

• Login as admin and select ‘User requests’

• You will see an overview of all the requests:

• Select the request that you want to approve
• Before accepting the user request, several things must be checked:
  • Matching username: In HD4DP, the username must be the same as the person's username in the LDAP-system. If this is not the case,  change the requested username in HD4DP to the LDAP username
  • User search base: In the LDAP system, the user must be a member of the organizational unit (OU) where HD4DP searches for accounts. To find out the LDAP_USER_SEARCH_BASE for your organisation, go back to the dashboard, click on 'configurations' and search for LDAP_USER_SEARCH_BASE

• Check the data in the request
• Simply click 'Approve' and the user account is active

• If you would try to accept a user request for which the username is not found in the LDAP system, an error message appears 
• The user will receive an email that his or her account is accepted. This e-mail provides the necessary information to login i.e. username, password.

Accounts can be changed by the responsible of the HD4DP application of an organisation: 

• Log in using an administrator account
• Go to the Dashboard in the menu 

• Click 'User List' under User Management to get a list view of the registered accounts

• Click the 'Edit' button in the list view corresponding with your account

The user account can be changed:

• User Rights for the user
  • a 'data provider' account can enter and submit data
  • an 'administrator' account can create users and change the configuration settings

• Choose 'Enable' or 'Disable', depending on the requirements
• Select the registers the user should have access to
• Confirm the changes by clicking 'Save'.