OnCore - FAQs

A Clinical Trial Management System (CTMS) is a web-based software platform used to help manage clinical trials, from start to finish. The system centralizes the administrative aspects of clinical trials including documenting approvals, tracking subjects, managing financials, and reporting. This enables investigators, coordinators, and study teams to conduct studies more efficiently and focus on what matters most—their research.

For investigators and study teams, OnCore enables:

• Simple, efficient, and streamlined administration of clinical trials
• Centralized management of start-up tasks/timelines (no more spreadsheets!)
• Improved regulatory compliance
• Integrations with other systems for information sharing and automation of tasks

For departments and research units, OnCore enables:

• More efficient management of clinical research staff resources
• Improved financial monitoring, including sponsor invoicing

For the University, OnCore helps:

• Streamline our staff's clinical research workflows to improve efficiency (specifically with study start up and contract/budget negotiations)
• Provide greater oversight and support for the numerous clinical trials conducted across our institution

OnCore is now mandatory for all new interventional clinical trials being conducted at the University. If you're a university staff member involved in conducting observational clinical research, those are welcome too! OnCore helps streamline administrative processes and provide a centralized repository for your study information. The most common staff roles that can benefit from using OnCore include research coordinators or assistants, research nurses, regulatory coordinators, and budget/finance administrators. Principal Investigators and other research staff can also benefit from OnCore and are invited to request access. No training is required for PIs to use OnCore.

The studies that benefit most from being managed through OnCore are clinical trials that need to track participant visits and invoice sponsors. If you have questions about your specific studies, please email oncoresupport@ucalgary.ca.

To request access to OnCore as a clinical trial team, you must complete the mandatory training. To learn more, visit the Get Started page.

To request access to OnCore as a new team member, have your manager contact oncoresupport@ucalgary.ca with your expected roles. POST will coordinate your training.

Custom integrations allow for information to be automatically transferred between OnCore and other systems.

Currently, this includes:

• Single Sign-On - allows you to sign in with your UCalgary username and password
• Ethics - automatically transfers ethics review information between IRISS and OnCore.
• Connect Care Demographics - allows you to retrieve patient demographics while in OnCore and allows OnCore to update Connect Care study records with patient research associations.
• Connect Care Protocol & Subject Statuses - OnCore is the source of truth for the majority of study information. Upon receipt of AHS Administrative Approval, a study record is automatically transferred from OnCore to Connect Care; subject status changes in OnCore trigger immediate updates in Connect Care once a patient has been associated with a study in OnCore.
• PeopleSoft Invoicing - automatic transfers of invoice and payment information between OnCore and UC PeopleSoft. You no longer need to fill out or submit an invoice request form.

As of April 1, 2023, OnCore is mandatory for new, interventional clinical trials at the University of Calgary. OnCore streamlines administration for research teams and allows the university to support researchers more efficiently. As more studies utilize the platform, the greater the realization of these benefits.

There is NO COST to use the system or receive support from POST. The University has licensed the CTMS software on your behalf and Alberta Innovates supported the implementation cost.

The Provincial OnCore Support Team (POST) does this for you. Once you provide the details of your study, they will:

• Create your protocol in OnCore
• Build your protocol calendar
• Set up your negotiated budget
• Provide resources to assist you in reviewing the build
• Make changes due to protocol or budget amendments

No! In fact, the CTMS reduces the number of places you store and manage study information.

The CTMS provides a central system specifically built for clinical research to replace a lot of the work you’re currently doing in spreadsheets, shared drives, email, and calendars. It creates efficiency and saves time. Most of the CTMS functionality is automated and builds off work you've previously done in the system.

In OnCore, you can do things once and have them automatically applied elsewhere. For example, you can build a single protocol calendar and apply it to every study participant. If someone misses a visit, you can adjust the rest of their visits all at once. The CTMS also uses system learning based on tasks previously completed. For example, if you mark a visit as occurred, the relevant charges will be ready for invoicing.

When it comes to other systems that the CTMS doesn’t replace, like PeopleSoft, we’ve built integrations so that you don’t have to enter information twice. If there’s no integration available, we can offer some tips on how to export information from the CTMS in a way that will still be helpful.