CDEMS Basics...

Are you at a crossroads in managing chronic disease health care? These top 10 basic questions (and answers) about the CDEMS registry will help you to evaluate the program or get started as a new user.


1. What is CDEMS?
CDEMS is the Chronic Disease Electronic Management System, a software application developed by the Washington State Diabetes Prevention and Control Program in 2002. CDEMS is a Microsoft Access database application designed to assist medical providers and management in tracking the care of patients with chronic health conditions. CDEMS is pre-coded to track diabetes, asthma and adult preventive health but is customizable to change those tracking measures or define measures for monitoring other chronic conditions. Printed progress notes, patient lists, and summary reports generated from the registry database can alter the way services are delivered and measure quality improvement efforts. Click CDEMS Description for a one-page summary of the registry.



2. What are the minimum system requirements?
  • PC computer with Microsoft Windows 98 or later operating system or Microsoft Windows NT
  • Microsoft Access (version 97 or higher), fully installed
  • Printer (color recommended) to print CDEMS progress notes and reports
  • Access to Internet for downloading program files and upgrades


3. How can I install CDEMS?
The CDEMS registry consists of three modules: data entry program, reports program, and data file. These program files are available without charge on the "Download Files" page at www.cdems.com. Detailed instructions there guide you through the process to download the CDEMS files that match your version of Access. The data file contains sample patient data for testing functionality and features of the program.



4. Can I review sample documents?
Yes, click CDEMS Sample Documents. to preview a sample progress note, graphs handout page, data collection form, sample summary report, and sample intervention list.



5. Can lab results be recorded electronically?
Yes! A lab interface program is available for electronically downloading lab results from several major labs (Labcorp, Dynacare, Quest, PAML). These lab interface programs are available on the "Download Files" page. For basic information about setting up the lab interface, click this shortcut to a Forum discussion on Lab Download Basics. A detailed Lab Interface Guide is also available in the Documentation section of the "Download Files" page.



6. What can be customized in CDEMS?
The tracking measures for any chronic health condition can be defined in CDEMS. This includes related diagnoses, meds, services and labs. Measures are created and customized in the user-friendly CDEMS SetUp Wizard. A customizable tickler system can be set up to remind providers of labs and services due dates and alert when test values are out of the target range. Standards of care and descriptions can be customized on the patient graphs handout page. The "Create-A-Report" and "Create-A-List" templates in the reports program allow development of customized summary reports and intervention lists based on each clinic's unique setup parameters.



7. How complicated is CDEMS to learn?
CDEMS can be as simple or complex as you want it to be! The programs can be downloaded and your clinic set up in CDEMS within 30 minutes. The time for loading patients into the registry and ongoing data entry depends on your particular setup, goals, and the number of patients being tracked. Detailed setups with several layers of tracking for a health condition, form customizations, custom queries and reports all make the application more complex, but also provide the specific types of information needed by your orgranization. CDEMS is designed to be customizable with intelligent, flexible reporting based on each clinic's particular setup and definition of measures tracked for each health condition.



8. What technical support is available?
Many resources are available for self-support:
  • The "Download Files" CDEMS Documentation page contains detailed and up-to-date user guides.
  • Over 700 postings in the CDEMS Forum document technical questions and answers from users about the program. Visit the "Forum" page on the web site.
  • Free training classes and user meetings are offered several times a year at various locations in Washington. Information about CDEMS training classes and user meetings is available on the "Training" page.
  • Newsletters report details of periodic User Support meetings -- click "Newsletters" on the navigation bar.
  • A toll free number [1-800-478-3563] is available for "no charge" telephone support for Washington users of CDEMS. Tech support for Washington clinics is funded by the Washington Diabetes Prevention and Control Program.
  • For non-Washington users, many self-support resources are available on the web site (i.e. User Forum, program documentation, newsletters, etc.). Information about fee-based support options is available at www.support.cdems.com. Or, you may contact Jackie (e-mail: jackie@cdems.com or phone: 916-903-7459) directly for specialized help.



9. Is CDEMS compatible with my EMR?
If there is a way to get data out of an EMR, CDEMS can work with available data in a variety of formats: HL7, comma delimited, Excel, Access, txt files... Many EMR's need a way to manipulate data and generate the types of queries and reports available in CDEMS. So, the ability to export data is an important feature to consider in choosing an EMR. Some clinics continue to use CDEMS for tracking chronic conditions because of reporting limitations of their EMR systems.



10. What's the difference between DEMS and CDEMS?
DEMS is the Diabetes Electronic Management System, a registry designed to manage diabetes specifically. DEMS was developed by the Washington State Diabetes Prevention and Control Program and released in 1999. The DEMS diabetes measures and reports are hard-coded and therefore less flexible. CDEMS is an outgrowth of DEMS, extending the patient monitoring system to other chronic diseases. CDEMS enables the customization of the diabetes measures and definition of measures to monitor other chronic conditions such as asthma, cardiovascular, depression, etc. The CDEMS reports program is more flexible, generating reports based on each user's setup. DEMS and CDEMS both store demographic information, visit dates and vitals, medications, diagnoses, services, labs, and notes. Both also produce a lab history and graph selected labs, and both utilize the electronic lab interface to download lab results into the registry. An Import program is available for transferring DEMS data into CDEMS for current DEMS users wishing to switch to the CDEMS registry.