Information for Data Managers
Data Managers play a vital role in the EACTS Adult Cardiac Database. The Data Manager of a participating hospital will manage the process of data transferal from a unit to the Adult Cardiac Database, with the support of the EACTS QUIP Team.
If you are a Data Manager for a hospital participating in the Adult Cardiac Database, please see useful documents below for guidance on data specification and dictionary, as well as how to upload the data and use the benchmarking features.
Updates to the ACD Data Fields and Definitions
The ACD Task Force has updated the data fields and definitions in the dataset.
By the end of 2019, centres must adapt their local datasets to the new fields and definitions prescribed by EACTS.
For the new Data Dictionary and Summary of Changes in the ACD, please click on the links below.
How EACTS maps your data
The EACTS QUIP team maps a centre’s data to the Adult Cardiac Database.
This step is easy, and only happens once. All the centre needs to do is send their data fields (only data fields, no real data!) to the QUIP team.
See an example of the data mapping process below.
4 fields from a centre have been mapped to the ACD ‘renal disease’ field:
- Functioning transplant:
- Opt. 1) No transplant
- Opt. 2) Yes
- Creatinine (umol l-1):
- Opt. 1) <= 200
- Opt. 2) > 200
- Renal failure:
- Opt. 1) None
- Opt. 2) Acute
- Opt. 3) Chronic
- Dialysis:
- Opt. 1) No
- Opt. 2) Yes
See the infographic on the right for how we mapped these fields to ‘renal disease’.
Data mapping for renal disease field
How to upload data
There is only one way to send data to the ACD, and that is via the secure FTP platform. Follow the steps below.
Please do not send the data in any other format or it will be considered a serious data breach.
- Go to https://hed.iweb-storage.com/login (secure FTP link)
- Enter the provided user name and password for the FTP link
- Once logged in, click on ADD FILES to upload your anonymous data (CSV, Excel or FlatFile format)
Useful downloads
Frequently asked questions from Data Managers
Whether you are a new Data Manager or a participant looking to refresh their knowledge before a data upload, here are some helpful FAQs below that our QUIP team has put together.
If you need further information or we have left out your question, please contact EACTSFeedback@uhb.nhs.uk.
We encourage centres to keep up to date with data uploads. Depending on the resources available at the centre, the data should be uploaded quarterly, every 6 months or yearly.
The EACTS QUIP team will assign this to your hospital.
Should I submit data or any other patient level information to the Adult Cardiac Database via email?
No. This would breach our data governance contract – patient level data via email is not secure. Please use the secure FTP link provided by our technical team to transfer any patient level data.
Hover over any bars or points on any graph to view additional data, including mortality and reoperations by volume.
Yes/no fields are not always compatible with the QUIP data specification (downloadable on the tool) – in this case, we require operation urgency to detail whether it was elective, an emergency, urgent or salvage. This is to provide analysis with as high a level of accuracy as possible, and for the future purpose of providing analysis by EuroSCORE II and STS score.
A unit will only be able to see pseudonymised aggregate level data from other units.
At the highest level. Units will only be able to download high level graphics for other units.
Feedback reports will be sent to all units with their own data in.
The unit will be responsible for this.
