Summary
A dashboard component called 'ClinSpark Usage Overview', also referred to as 'Item Group Overview', exists in customer environments with the purpose of assisting invoicing processes that take place between IQVIA finance teams and customers. The component uses billing details that are configured into customer environments and provides a brief summary of study/item group usage, with a simple data export.
This component was originally built to support IQVIA account managers and support teams with the ability to pull information requested by finance teams for billing / invoicing. By default, this component is not made visible to customers in their environments and is placed into a Support area accessible only to superadmins. However, upon request via service desk, customers can also be exposed to this component. Some may find it useful to gain an understanding on utilization and associated fees.
All billable activities, costs, and fees are contract specific. The dashboard component provides an overview of instance usage, but is not inclusive of the full invoicing process that takes place between IQVIA and customers.
Configuration
The component uses instance Billing details that are maintained by superadmin users. These are configured in Administration > General Settings > Advanced System Setup.
‘Monthly Fee’ and ‘Start Date of Month’ values are tracked for internal IQVIA team reference. They currently do not influence the use of the dashboard component or report outputs.
Within Administration > System Settings, the dashboard component is called ‘Item Group Overview’.
By default, the component is configured as a ‘Support’ type which enables it within the Administration > Support component. This also restricts access to the component to superadmin users.
If customers are given access to the component, it’s recommended that it be role and/or role action restricted.
No other configuration settings influence the component.
Features
The component contains 4 features:
Export study and item group details based on defined date range
Define date range for usage data
Search, based on date range
Review study and item group fee results.
Export
The export feature will use the provided date range to create a tabulated Excel file. Each tab will present an overview of study and item group data attributes that are related to configured costs/fees in the ClinSpark environment.
Studies
The ‘Studies’ tab will populate a row once the first subject cohort assignment activation takes place in a given study. The report will show details about both the study, site, and user associated with the activation.
Column A for ‘Cost’ is populated with the Study Fee configured in the ClinSpark environment.
Item Group Data
The ‘Item Group Data’ sheet is populated based on the selected date range and certain audit records associated with the Item Groups across studies.
Data will appear in this sheet the first-time a given study Item Group contains a Collection Time value that has been successfully collected and saved, thus considering it billable. Item Groups that have not yet be used (collected on) are not yet considered billable.
‘Date Used’ identifies the first occurrence of a Collection Time value was saved against a given Item Group, after the activation date. Activation dates are when the forms/item groups/items are established based subject cohort activations, and correlate with audit records that display “item group data created”.
The report is intended to show instances where an Item Group thus became billable based on this first usage date.
Forms and contained item groups over time may go through changes as users continue to open and save the form successfully (creating multiple audit records for Item Groups). This usage report is intended to only identify the first time the form was used and considered billable, and not surface in future months through subsequent use.
Additional attributes are present that can be used to further identify what study, site, subject, and timepoint (form) a given item group data fee may be associated with. This same level information is also typically available within the Study > Data component as well.
Date Ranges
Start Date will default to the current calendar month first day.
End Date will default to the current calendar day.
The component will otherwise validate the following conditions:
Dates must match acceptable format
Start Date cannot be greater than End Date
Date range can be greater than 1 calendar year
Start & End Dates cannot be null
Values must align with acceptable calendar date values (for example, day values that exceed 31 are rejected, or month values greater than 12)
Search
The component will only execute a search query once a valid date range has been provided.
Results
Upon successful search, results will be displayed inline for users to review.
The purpose of the table is to gain a brief overview of results based on the search date range. This is useful for users to review at a glance, to check fees and counts based on selected date ranges, prior to requesting an export.
Depending on the date range for search, it may take several seconds to return results. This is especially true for any instances where there are a high volume of item group data collection activities occurring across one or more study sites.
If users experience challenges with the performance of the dashboard or requested export, they are encouraged to reach out via service desk ticket so it can be investigated.