New Features in 23R3.4
Release Date: February 9, 2024
We are pleased to bring you the following new features in this week's release. See a summary of feature enablement for this release below. Information on developer features (REST API) is in the Developer Portal.
Clinical Coding
The following are new features for Coder, the clinical coding area for Vault Coder.
Autoclose Queries when Coded or Autocoded
Use Case
With this feature, Coders who open queries on a Code Request can configure the Autoclose Query when Coded or Autocoded study setting option to automatically close queries based on Coding Status, instead of waiting for queries to be closed manually.
Description
The new Coder Study Settings, Autoclose Query when Coded or Autocoded, will allow the Coder Administrator to choose whether to have coding queries autoclose when the Coding Status of the queried Code Request is changed to Coded or Autocoded. If a coding Form is locked, at any level, it does not allow queries to be posted, closed, or autoclosed on the locked Form.
Enablement & Configuration
These changes apply automatically.
Learn More
Coder Minor Enhancements
Use Case
This feature improves user experience by including validations that prevent errors during Synonym List import and Form Configuration.
Description
This release adds validations to Coder Tools and Jobs that validate each assigned code in a Synonym List before importing it. If an assigned code does not exist in the target dictionary then an error is displayed and the Synonym is not imported.
A validation error is displayed on the Synonym List import preview page in the following scenarios:
- The Synonym List is configured to include ATCs and a record in the file does not include a value for ATC1 Code and ATC1 Label
- The Synonym List is configured to not include ATCs and a row in the file includes a value for one or more of the ATC fields
- An expected column is missing
This release also makes the following changes:
- The action of deleting a synonym list is now a job.
- When the Code with ATCs study setting is set to Yes, only Synonym Lists that are configured to include coding with ATCs can be assigned to forms. When the Code with ATCs study setting is set to No, only Synonym Lists that are configured to not include coding with ATCs can be assigned to forms.
- Study settings cannot be changed when the related Job is running.
Enablement & Configuration
These changes apply automatically.
Propagate Code Final State
Use Case
With this feature, Coding Status changes from the Propagate Code feature can be configured based on user requirements.
Description
The Code All Forms and Update Synonym List (AKA Propagate Code) feature can be located in the Dictionary Panel. Prior to this release, the feature would set the Coding Status of impacted Code Requests to Autocoded.
With this release, we’ve introduced a Study Setting called Final state for Propagate Code which gives the Coder Administrator the option to choose the final Coding Status of Code Requests impacted by the Propagate Code feature. The options are Coded and Autocoded. For existing studies, the default for this study setting remains Autocoded, and for new studies the default is Coded.
If Coded is selected, then the final Coding Status of the impacted Code Requests will be Coded. Additionally, when this setting is set to Coded, if the Enable Approval Workflow study setting is set to Yes, then the final Coding Status will be Pending Approval. When this study setting is set to Autocoded, then the final Coding Status of the impacted Code Requests will be Autocoded.
Enablement & Configuration
These changes apply automatically.
Learn More
Remapping in Upversioning
Use Case
In previous releases, when Vault Coder changed the assigned path for Verbatims and Synonyms after dictionary upversioning, the assigned code was cleared and the Coding Status was set to Noncurrent. As a result, Coders had to manually re-code the affected terms. With this release, Coder will automatically remap Verbatims and Synonyms during upversioning, reducing the time spent by Coders on re-coding terms and significantly reducing the impact of upversioning.
Description
With this release, Verbatims _and _Synonyms are now automatically remapped and autocoded during upversioning. The remapping process differs depending on the dictionary type and on whether the Code with ATCs study setting is enabled.
Previously during upversioning, the system checked each Code Request’s full assigned code, and if the full assigned code could not be located in the target dictionary, then the assigned code was cleared and the Coding Status was set to Noncurrent.
With this feature, when you upversion a Form or Synonym List, the system evaluates the full assigned code of every Code Request (for Forms) or Synonym (for Synonym Lists) to determine if it exists in the new dictionary release. If the full assigned code does not exist in the new dictionary release, then the system will attempt to remap the code starting with the lowest level of the assigned code. If it can remap the code, then the code is updated and the Coding Status remains Coded or Autocoded. If the system cannot remap the code, then the code is cleared and the Coding Status is set to Noncurrent.
The lowest level of the assigned code is different for each Dictionary Type, and the remapping process for each dictionary type is as follows:
For MedDRA and MedDRAJ the system will first attempt to remap the Verbatim or Synonym by using just the LLT Code. If it can be located in the target dictionary, then the system will remap the Verbatim. If it cannot be located with the LLT Code then the system will reattempt remapping with the LLT Label.
For WHODrug B3 and WHODrug C3, if the Code with ATCs study setting is not enabled, then the system will first attempt remapping with the Drug Code and then the Drug Name. For JDrug, it will attempt remapping with the Drug Code and then the Basic Drug Name.
For WHODrug B3 and WHODrug C3, if the Code with ATCs study setting is enabled, then the system will first attempt remapping with the following set of codes: Drug Code, the highest assigned ATC Code, and the highest assigned ATC Label. If it cannot be located, then the system will reattempt remapping with the following set of codes: Drug Name, the highest assigned ATC Code, and the highest assigned ATC Label.
After the system attempts remapping all Code Requests that would have otherwise been set to Noncurrent (and had their assigned codes cleared), if the Autocode from Dictionary study setting is set to Yes, then the system will proceed to attempt to autocode all the Code Requests that do not have an assigned code.
Enablement & Configuration
These changes apply automatically.
Learn More
Reports & Dashboards
The following are new features for reports and dashboards in Vault CDMS.
Refactor Progress Listing Record Updates
Use Case
Users use the “Last Run” column in Study Progress Listing reports to determine when the data in reports was last updated. This column is useful for identifying outdated data that may be a result of a Study Progress Listing job not having run recently. To refactor the Study Progress Listing records and improve performance, the Last Run column will now display the last run date time every time a scheduled Study Progress Listing job runs.
Description
New versions of the Study Progress Listing report templates have been created to support a new Last Run object. This object will populate the Last Run column in the new report templates with the date and time the Study Progress Listing data was last populated in Reports during a scheduled listing job. In previous Study Progress Listing report templates, Last Run date time information was stored in each individual record in the Study Progress Listing and updated every time the Study Progress Listing job ran, which could impact performance. With this release, the Last Run date time information is stored in a separate object.
The following report types have been created to support the new report templates:
- Form Progress Listing with Last Run
- Event Progress Listing with Last Run
- Subject Progress Listing with Last Run
- Query Detail Listing with Last Run
Note: The Last Run column in the V1 versions of the reports has been deprecated and will no longer populate. Vault Owners will need to share the V2 report templates with users if they wish to use the new Last Run column.
Enablement & Configuration
These reports are automatically available, but a Vault Owner must update the sharing settings for the reports to be visible to other users.
Learn More
Study Design & Configuration
Features in this area apply to Studio, the study design and configuration area for Vault EDC.
Rule Editor Enhancements
Use Case
The Rule Editor and User Defined Rules page have been updated for better usability, with matching layout and style consistency.
Description
The following changes have been made to the Rule Editor and the User Defined Rules page:
Rule Editor
- Button text and functionality have been updated for style consistency:
- “Save” has been changed to “Save and Close”
- “Save a Copy” has been changed to “Save As,” which saves changes made to an existing rule as a new rule
- “Check Syntax” has been changed to “Validate,” which checks the entire rule for errors
User Defined Rules Page
- The text “Delete”/”Restore Deleted Rule” has been changed to “Archived”/“Restore Archived Rule” in the action menu next to the rule names
- “Copy” has been added to the action menu and navigates the user to the expression for the new rule
Enablement & Configuration
These changes apply automatically.
Learn More
Sponsor Data Loader: File Import
Use Case
This feature provides an efficient method for users with the new Load Data permission, to upload data for device or instrument related study data which would have previously been entered manually into an EDC Forms.
Description
MedTech customers who receive large quantities of data generated in file format from instruments or devices can now import this data into EDC. In the new Data Loader tab, the data from the file are imported directly into the destination subjects and forms in Data Entry per the study configurations from Studio. A new standard role, CDMS Data Loader, and the existing CDMS Super User role automatically have permissions to use this feature.
This feature supports CSV file format and a max file size of 100MB. An import preview is available and validations will occur to notify users of any incorrect types, lengths or column names which do not match the study design configurations. Data can be loaded across multiple subjects in one upload action. Data from a repeating form design can be included by specifying the form sequence. Note: Loading data to a Lab panel, a repeating event group or a repeating item group are not supported at this time.
Enablement & Configuration
Contact Veeva Support to enable this feature for new or existing MedTech studies. Once the feature is enabled on your vault, Study Designers can assign mappings and deploy the study configuration required to begin using the import features in the Data Loader tab. Custom roles wishing to utilize this feature should have the Load Data permission added as appropriate.
Sponsor Data Loader: Studio Configurations
Use Case
These Studio configurations support the Data Loader file import functionality and provide an efficient method to upload data for device or instrument related study data.
Description
Studio configurations now support MedTech studies with the ability to load large amounts of data. The new study setting, Enable Data Loader, allows Study Designers to set up mapping configurations which associate columns and data values from the file with EDC Forms and items. Additional configurations are available to load static values or have the end user make selections during their import. The selected data types and formats support various date and datetime formats from the source file. Values from the file can also be mapped to selections in an EDC codelist for cases where values differ, such as “Yes” and “Y”.
When loading machine or device data into more than one form design, a separate configuration in Studio is needed for each unique form design. Repeating forms can be configured for import; however, configuring Data Loader for a lab panels, repeating event groups, or repeating item groups is not supported in this release.
Study setup for Data Loader is configured in DEV, and respectfully deployed along with the study design to test and production environments. Data Loader configurations are specified in the Study Design Specifications (SDS). Data Loader configurations are considered versionless changes during deployments since they may need to be updated apart from casebook revisions.
Enablement & Configuration
Contact Veeva Support to enable this feature in your vault. Once enabled, study designers can enable this feature on a study-by-study basis using the Enable Data Loader setting in Studio > Settings.
General Processing Updates
Use Case
These changes improve the back end processing of changes to avoid errors and cross product issues experienced by end users when performing specific actions.
Description
We made several general processing updates to avoid errors and ensure successful processing when removing or copying design configurations and where record keys are unable to be reconciled from within studies or across products.
- Async errors and CDB job failures will no longer occur in cases where a form is deleted in Studio and that form had been linked to another form
- Deleting Forms, ItemGroups, or Items will no longer cause errors when copying review plans that had previously included them
- Vault hides Studies which have no active instances from Studio > Libraries and Studio > Studies. An “empty” study can occur due to a study copy failure. This feature allows a study to be removed or the study design to be re-started using the same study name, as long as the prior environment instances are removed, and no Prod instance was created.
Enablement & Configuration
These changes apply automatically.
Include Sponsor Organization in PDFs
Use Case
This change clarifies sponsor information in design PDFs.
Description
When generating the Blank and Annotated PDFs from Studio the Sponsor (Organization) can now be included in the cover page. This setting applies to the Blank and Annotated PDFs in Studio.
Enablement & Configuration
Contact Veeva Support to enable this feature in your vault.
Study Administration
Features in this section apply to EDC Tools, a study-level administration area for Vault EDC.
Detail PDF Job Supports Site Deletion
Use Case
Detail PDF jobs will complete as expected by users after site deletion, and will no longer automatically fail.
Description
With this release, when a user runs a scheduled Detail PDF job that includes a site that has been deleted, the job will now complete successfully for the remaining sites in the job. If the last site of a site-specific scheduled Detail PDF job is deleted, the scheduled job will default to run on all sites. When a site is deleted, the first scheduled Detail PDF job after deletion will be cancelled, but subsequent jobs generate PDFs for non-deleted sites or for all sites (if the deleted site was the last site specified in the Detail PDF job).
Enablement & Configuration
This change applies automatically.
EDC General Enhancements
Use Case
These updates provide a better end-user experience, improve clarification and consistency when performing actions in EDC and running Rules jobs, and prevent Detailed PDF job failure due to removed sites.
Description
With this release, we made the following general enhancements to the EDC UI:
- Hover-over and cursor experience updates for the Editable, Read Only, and Labs grids, including:
- Tabbing now skips over non-editable items during data entry.
- Not Allowed cursor () shows for non-editable items, e.g., derivations, read-only items, and items from a form link.
- A Learn more link is provided when hovering over the Reset Form option in the form’s action menu, which takes the user to the relevant page in CDMS Help. This option is now grayed out when there are item-to-form links present on the form.
- The message “Not all changes were autosaved” is updated to remove the link/underline. Problematic items are now underlined to give the end user more information.
- Spacing was added between the Submit/Edit Form button and the (…) form action menu
- For studies using Cross Form derivations, the informational icon showing the submit value and rule information (Data Entry and Review) now displays for derived read-only items.
- In the subject list UI in the Data Entry and Review tabs, the logic for Last Event has been updated to match the Subject Progress Listing and will show the event with the most recent event date.
Enablement & Configuration
These changes apply automatically.
Study Priority and Job Governor Enhancements
Use Case
These updates improve usability and consistency.
Description
This feature includes the following updates to Study Priority and Job Governance:
- Study priority icons have been updated for consistency
- The priority expiration has been updated to a predefined picklist of values: 7 days, 30 days, 90 days, or Until Study Lock
- Job governance has been updated to properly account for different users’ timezones when scheduling jobs
Enablement & Configuration
This feature is automatically enabled.
Learn More
Study Progress Listings Enhancements
Use Case
These updates improve the usability of and clarity for Study Progress Listings.
Description
This release includes the following enhancements made to Study Progress Listing jobs:
Subject Progress Listing
- The Most Recent Visit column logic has been updated to display the event with the most recent event date, rather than the latest event in the schedule with an event date The date of this event will display in the Date of Most Recent Visit column
Job Type list in Review
- The Job Type list in Review > Listings & Exports has been alphabetized
Progress listings
- The information icon is now visible for Study Progress Listings that are generated in EDC Tools. The icon will display the options included in the job
Event Progress Listing job
- Event Date SDV column has been relabeled to Event Date SDV Complete
Event Progress Listing Report
- Event Date SDV columns have been relabeled to match CSV
Enablement & Configuration
These changes apply automatically.
Learn More
Suppress Extraneous Definition, Relationship & Façade Changes in Audit
Use Case
This feature improves efficiency and performance when generating audit extracts and PDFs that include the audit trail as well as improved user experience when viewing the audit in EDC.
Description
The audit trail that is visible to EDC users is derived from a more robust platform audit trail that previously displayed irrelevant portions of the audit. The updated CDMS audit trail focuses more on changes to data. Changes to definitions, relationships, or facades, specifically when a retro amendment occurs, will no longer be shown in the UI, audit trail exports, or PDFs. References to backend relationship IDs are also suppressed. The Casebook audit trail will still show changes to Casebook Versions.
With this release, the following entries are suppressed in the audit trail:
| Entries Suppressed in the Audit | |
|---|---|
| Object | Audit Entry |
| Event Group | Casebook Event Group Relationship |
| Event Group Definition | |
| Event | Event Group Event Relationship |
| Event Definition | |
| Form | Event Form Relationship |
| Form Definition | |
| Facade | |
| Item Group | Form Item Group Relationship |
| Item Group Definition | |
| Item | Event Definition |
| Form Definition | |
| Item Definition | |
| Item Group Definition | |
| Item Group Item Relationship | |
Enablement & Configuration
This change applies automatically.
Learn More
Data and Definition Export Retirement (DDE)
Use Case
In recent releases, the Study Data Extract has been enhanced to replace the functionality provided by the Data and Definition Export.
Description
This release removes the Data and Definition Export from the User Interface and API, along with any scheduled jobs associated with it.
Enablement & Configuration
This update is behind a feature flag which is automatically set to remove the export.
SDE Enhancements
Use Case
These updates provide greater detail and improve usability of the Study Data Extract job.
Description
This release includes the following changes to Study Data Extracts:
- Standardized Timezone for Job Governance: The time zone that is stamped on the scheduled job will be based on the time zone of the user who scheduled the job. Users cannot schedule multiple jobs of the same job type and frequency at the same time. These changes apply to the following job types:
- Study Data Extract
- Study Progress Listings
- Study Progress Versioned Extracts
- Audit Trail Export Jobs
- Updated Icons for Study Priority: icons for Set, Edit, and Remove priority have been updated in the action menu for consistency
- Limit added to Study Priority Expiration: The priority component has been changed to a picklist with predetermined options so users can only select a certain interval of when the priority expiration date will expire
- 24R1 Version of the SDE: The 24R1 SDE version has been added in the UI and is supported by the CDMS REST API
- Custom Object datasets will have two columns for each field that has a reference to an existing object: one column contains the name of the object, and the secondary column has a column header with “_ID” appended to it, and contains the Vault ID of the object.
- Added Event Frozen, Locked, and Signed Data columns to the SYS_EVT dataset
- Added Subject Frozen, Locked, and Review Data columns to the SYS_SUB dataset
- Added Additional Review and Locked, Frozen, and Signed Data columns to the SYS_FORM dataset
- We’ve fixed the following issue: previously, the returned value of the IGSEQ & FSEQ columns in the SYS_ILB dataset were returning a decimal value when they should be returning an integer. This fix impacts all SDE versions.
- We no longer backfill missing definitions. This means that the SDE will fail if changes to relationships are made during the study design process
Enablement & Configuration
These changes apply automatically.
Learn More
Study Progress Versioned Extracts
Use Case
This feature provides users with versioned Study Progress Extracts. Versioning allows users to maintain backwards compatibility when the Study Progress Listings are updated during release cycles.
Description
With this release, we’ve added the following jobs to EDC Tools, which allow users to run specific versions of Study Progress Listing jobs:
- Form Progress Versioned Extract
- Event Progress Versioned Extract
- Subject Progress Versioned Extract
- Query Detail Versioned Extract
Listing versions correspond to the general release name (24R1, for example). Any new columns will be added to the end of the listing file.
Enablement & Configuration
Contact Veeva Support to enable this feature.
Learn More
Labs
Features in this section are new features for the Labs module of Vault EDC.
Archive Lab Units & Codelists
Use Case
This feature provides more efficient management of changes to Lab Analytes, Units, and Codelists and minimizes the need for Veeva support.
Description
The following changes have been made to support management of lab configurations:
- Users can now archive Lab Units, Codelists, and Analytes, replacing the option to delete them
- We’ve added an In Use column to the Units and Codelists pages
- Users can now archive Lab Units and Codelists that are not In Use. Once archived, Units/Codelists will not be displayed as an option in the respective picker menu
- Archived Analytes can’t be used in manually entered or imported Lab Normal Ranges
- Archived Analytes, Units, and Codelists will be noted in the Vault Configuration Report and Vault Diff Report
Enablement & Configuration
Auto-on.
Learn More
Migration Vault
Features in this section are new features for Migration Vault.
Migration Report & Log File Enhancements
Use Case
These enhancements provide users with more information on the migrated study and can be used to help troubleshoot errors as well as plan for future migrations.
Description
The following enhancements have been made to the Migration report and workflow log files:
- Log files now contain additional information in cases of form submission or medical coding failures.
- If a log file is available when a step is retried, the new log file becomes available in place of the previous one. The log file contains new warnings and errors uncovered during the retry.
- The migration report now indicates if a failure is retriable.
Enablement & Configuration
All enhancements are immediately available.
Migration General Enhancements
Use Case
- The Migration Vault to CDMS connection enhancement provides a more seamless connection experience for the user.
- With the elimination of the Migration Study Setting requirement, a superfluous setting has been removed.
- Not allowing the Reconcile Listings step to be skipped removes confusion during the Migration workflow.
- The new Queued status helps users know when the load actually starts and ensures the Audit Trail and subsequent Completion Times are also more accurate.
- The new Current Status column provides a snapshot of all project load statuses and the current step, without requiring users to access the Load Details section.
- The Copy Load Details option allows Migration users to copy load details for easy troubleshooting.
- The identification of derived items in the Attributes CSV file prevents items from being in an invalid CDMS state.
- Informing users of unsupported YAML versions allows them to resolve load failure concerns.
- The new confirmation dialog for users using the Execute All option ensures that users are aware that they’re migrating a load into a production vault.
Description
The following general enhancements were made to the Migration Vault:
- Users are no longer required to create a Migration Vault to CDMS connection. The connection is now established on behalf of the user as part of executing a load during the Validate step. This enhancement affects all Migration Vault users, including Cross-Domain users.
- Migration users are no longer required to create a Migration Study Setting in order to migrate a study.
- Now that every load requires the Reconcile Listings step, the step can no longer be skipped during the Migration workflow.
- A new Queued status has been added to the Workflow Progress table. This status clarifies when a load is queued and not in progress.
- The Load page in Migration Vault has a new column entitled Current Status. This column provides the status of all In Progress steps. If no steps are In Progress, it displays the status of the last completed step.
- When a user’s load fails, a new Copy Load Details option on the Load page allows the user to copy all relevant details to their computer’s clipboard.
- During the Validate & Stage step, Migration Vault now displays a warning dialog if the Attributes CSV file contains derived items (per the Study Design).
- Migration Vault only supports YAML version 23.3.4. Users are now notified when an unsupported YAML version is the source of load failure.
- Users performing a migration load using the Execute All option must now confirm that they would like to continue with the execution by entering text into a warning dialog.
Enablement & Configuration
These enhancements are automatically enabled.
Migration Support for Retrying Queries
Use Case
If a CDMS connection is lost or times out during a Migration Production Run while processing queries, Migration users now have more options to prevent a Migration Reset.
Description
This release incorporates various updates to support retrying queries during a Migration Production Run:
- If a CDMS connection is lost during a Post-Run while queries are processing, Migration Vault will retry the process until the maximum number of retries is reached.
- If the limit of query system retries has been reached, users can now reach out to their Veeva Services Representative to restart the process.
- If a Post-Run containing queries is manually stopped, the user can retry the step with the support of their Veeva Services Representative.
- In some cases, if the Post-Run step fails, users can retry the step and avoid a Migration Reset.
- Migration Vault now produces a report that contains all duplicate queries and query messages created as part of the retry process.
- When migrating studies, queries are now set to CDMS in batches.
Enablement & Configuration
This feature requires support from your Veeva Services Representative.
Feature Enablement Summary
| Feature Name | Configuration | Dependencies | Day 1 Impact to Primary Users | Users with Day 1 Visibility |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical Coding | ||||
| Autoclose Queries when Coded or Autocoded | Coder Tools |
|
|
|
| Coder Minor Enhancements | Coder Tools |
|
|
|
| Propagate Code Final State | Coder Tools |
|
|
|
| Reports & Dashboards | ||||
| Refactor Progress Listing Record Updates |
|
|||
| Labs | ||||
| Archive Lab Units & Codelists | Labs |
|
|
|
| Study Design & Configuration | ||||
| Rule Editor Enhancements |
|
|||
| General Processing Updates |
|
|||
| Include Sponsor Organization in PDFs | ||||
| Study Administration | ||||
| Detail PDF Job Supports Site Deletion |
|
|||
| EDC General Enhancements |
|
|||
| Study Priority and Job Governor Enhancements |
|
|
||
| Study Progress Listings Enhancements |
|
|
||
| Suppress Extraneous Definition, Relationship & Façade Changes in Audit |
|
|
||
| Data and Definition Export Retirement (DDE) |
|
|
||
| SDE Enhancements |
|
|||
| Study Progress Versioned Extracts | Support |
|
||
| Migration Vault | ||||
| Limited Availability: In the current release, Migration Vault is only available to early adopter customers. Contact your Veeva Services representative for details. | ||||
| Migration Report & Log File Enhancements |
|
|||
| Migration General Enhancements |
|
|||
| Migration Support for Retrying Queries |
|
|||
Enablement Legend
- Configuration: This field lists the location(s) where configuration for this feature occurs, for example, "Studio" or "EDC Tools". "Support" indicates that this feature must be enabled by Veeva Support, and "Vault Admin" indicates that configuration must be performed by a Vault Owner in the vault's Admin area.
- Dependencies: This field lists any dependencies required to use this feature, for example, Labs or Expression Engine V2. The other columns assume that the dependencies are enabled/in use.
- Day 1 Impact to Primary Users: This feature is visible and available to one or more primary user teams (Site Users, Clinical Team, and Coders) on day 1. Otherwise, this feature is either only visible to study designers or administrator users, it requires configuration before it is visible to primary users.
- Users with Day 1 Visibility: This feature is visible to these users on day 1 if no configuration occurs.