Screening, Treatment, Education and Prevention

The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) contracted Flipside to create a touchscreen-based questionnaire and data collection system to be used in multiple offices throughout western Pennsylvania. Laptops running the custom STEPUP software application are used to track, register, screen, assess, and report on patients. Additionally this system included a study recruitment tool that integrated with the office's existing patient database. STEPUP allows the educator at the office that is running the program (called a preventionist) to send invitation letters to eligible patients and then track their progress through the program. When the patient meets with the preventionist, the patient completes the STEPUP screener, which includes questionnaires for type 2 diabetes risk factors, lipid risk factors, Framingham risk assessment, metabolic syndrome identification, and non-fasting and fingersitck results. The system assesses and evaluates all of the collected data and creates a patient-specific report. All of the data that is collected is stored locally on the laptops and once a week it is synchronized with a central server. This sync process transfers the collected data to the central database, generates and emails status reports to the researchers, and updates the software on the laptop with any newer versions.