Quality data gains national attention

When it comes to the accuracy of blood, marrow and stem cell transplant data, Nebraska Medicine is one of the best institutions in the country. That’s caught the attention of the Omaha-based Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT), the accrediting body for cellular therapy programs that perform these types of transplants.

“We have a less than 3 percent error rate,” said Victoria Whalen, clinical research lead, Transplant Data Office.

That very low rate led FACT to extend an invitation to Whalen to serve on a national Data Audit Committee to provide recommendations to other centers on how they can better demonstrate compliance with the standards defined in the cellular transplant field.

“Every center is different in how they collect data and report it,” Whalen said. “I understand what they’re trying to do and I will share our process.”

Whalen has been with the Nebraska Medicine Transplant Data Office since 2000. In her role, she oversees a team that collects data for the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR). This team carefully tracks patient outcomes and volumes. They follow these types of transplant patients for the rest of their lives. This allows Nebraska Medicine to share research data among other national and international centers for patient care.

“For each patient, we complete standardized forms,” Whalen said. “Every piece of information has a source document. When inspectors conduct a site visit, they review the source documents to ensure the data we provided is accurate.”

Whalen was excited to receive the invitation to serve on this committee.

“They want to know how we do such a good job reporting our quality data,” she said. “I didn’t expect the invitation and my hair stood up when I read it. It’s very exciting for our organization to be recognized. I am honored to be identified to share my strategies to improve data management skills with this committee.”