Castor EDC Reviews - Page 2

The software is user friendly, and it is clear that (medical) researchers were involved in the development of the software - which is very convenient. The software offers a lot of options, so users can design their own eCRF and databases. The manual offer a lot of information if you do not know you to create something you have in mind. Moreover, the helpdesk is Always very quick in responding to your questions. What I also appreciate is that Castor EDC is open for any suggestions for improvement.

I do miss some options that I appreciated a lot while working with other similar software (in other hospitals). However, a pro is that I have mentioned those to the helpdesk and either they responded that they will incorporate them in future, or put them on a whish list, or they provided me a kind of work around. Unfortunately, not all the options I appreciated in the other software will be incorporated.

Dear Rosaline, Thank you for your review - we are indeed focused on compliance and data standardization, so thank you for pointing that out. We are developing Castor continuously so we hope that the features you are missing will be there soon! In the meantime, please do continue to give us feedback. Best, Elena

+ Ease of use, it didnt take long to master it. + Castor EDC is supported by many companies as a reliable partner. + Castor keeps updating its product and services in order to keep up with developments in research law and good clinical practice. + No more paper! (Or rather.. less paper) + The ability to create case report forms of measurement instruments for future use in other studies. + Large amount of options for all types of studies.

- The way the database is set up enforces the user to decide how he/she wants her data to be exported. - The system is not really designed for a high amount of measurements per step. It leads to some lagg in inserting data and it will nog let you make entire steps missing when applicable -> meaning you have to tag every single item as missing which is not very efficient. - The use of previously used/exported CRFs is still in development. For instance, only entire steps can be exported for future use though often steps contain multiple instruments or measurements.

Castor is a GDPR compliant tool to capture and store baseline characteristics, patient surveys, and clinical outcomes. It's affordable, easy to set up and easy to use. What I love most about it is that it improves the study quality so much compared to traditional methods of data capturing. I also love all the automatic calculations (e.g. age from date of birth and procedure date) the system can perform. The ePro feature to send out surveys to patients directly is great!

The platform could be even better if it offered functionality to design/structure all variables, definitions, input value options, and calculations in Excel and upload it to Castor. This would make it so much easier to translate (parts) of existing databases to new projects. Also, I missed an option to directly export the database to STATA. Castor currently only supports CSV/Excel/SPSS. Otherwise, no cons.

Hi Sjors, Thank you for your positive review! It's good to hear that you have used Castor for so many multicenter studies and that all users were happy with the platform. We hope you conduct many more successful studies in the future! We actually have an internal method to transform existing 'Excel' databases into Castor and we do offer such transformations. Please get in touch and we can lead you through the process! Best regards, Elena Kochova, MD Customer Success Manager

Easy to use, manage and build. Multiple users can easlily work in a case-by-case EDC. Setting authorizations is easy and feedback can be given by means of queries. Data export is easy and complete.

It tends to get slower over time due to pilled up logs which are logged on the background and can be cleared by the team of castor.

CASTOR for me is the answer to electronic data capture. It is easy to use, you have full control, it is safe and data from several sources can be incorporated. Can be used by the investigator, monitor as well as the participant for answering the questionnaires. I also like the fact that the software keeps being developed and better features are added regulary. Communication is excellent.

The help section is sometimes a bit hard to work through. Also would like to have a printable version of the manual (esp. for instructions to people using the ready-made castor forms).

Dear Gabby, Thanks for this great review! We pride ourselves on our platform's security, user-friendliness and multiple functionalities, as well as the responsiveness of our support team, so we are happy to hear that these are the highlights for you as a data manager! We have recently migrated our entire knowledge base, have you checked it out? It can be found at https://helpdesk.castoredc.com. The searchability has improved significantly since! We have also added printable pdf manuals for data entry users, study admins and monitors. We hope these will be useful for you! Thank you! Elena Kochova, MD Customer Success Manager

The tool was easy to learn thanks to a few, short instructional tutorials and a great FAQ. I enjoyed the great level of control when building forms, and even managed to do some coding - and to test that code to make sure it really worked. The user interface has a modern look compared to many other EDCs. The smooth two-factor authentication is a plus.

Some building blocks are a bit limited in how they can be used. For example, some can't be set as "required", so one has to create additional fields to achieve the same result.

This software is intuitive to use. The company provides video training with all the ins and outs, even though you can work with it without the training. In the past, I had issues with obtaining a calculation for a specific formula and the customer support was so helpful, truly. Responses were almost immediate and my issue was resolved. In addition, the use of records and reports are so helpful when building the CRFs. This product includes EVERYTHING you can find in all of the competing products, including the regulatory requirements, but is so much less expensive that it is not even worth checking out the other companies. This is my go to platform for all of my clients' clinical trials.

Watching the videos... I just want to hop in. I am writing this because I have to, honestly, there is nothing I don't like about this software.

Hi Sharon, Thank you so much for this super positive review and great to have you as a loyal customer! Our goal is to offer a product that covers all features necessary for any medical device or pharma study at a competitive price - so it's good to hear that it has indeed met your company's needs. Best regards, Elena Kochova, MD Customer Success Manager

It's really easy setting up the data collection process for your study. I love how you can play around with setting up a study (test study) so you can learn and implement that best data collection process for your study. The customization is great. It's also a great tool for small companies because of the price! Castor also does not charge you until your study goes live, which takes a lot of pressure off of the set up time, which is ultimately the longest and most difficult part when getting started with an EDC system--this gives you time to review with your team.

I wish there was a "save select data export" feature, where you can customize specific data fields to export, save, and re-download them at a later time instead of manually having to customize the fields again. The tutorial/help videos for setting up the study were mostly helpful, but I didn't use many features because of the lack of clarity in how to implement or the purpose of certain data fields. I think a better explanation (or even examples) as to what a "Repeated Measures" function as opposed to a "Add Report" function, for example.

How fast we could get started as Castor is very user friendly. We could build some eCRFs ourselves, and the support provided for the parts we could not do ourselves was very fast, adequate and high quality.

Nothing so far. Some minor features that were not available were customly build for us when requested.

Hi Anne-Floor, Thank you for your all-star review! It makes us extremely happy to hear that you have found Castor so easy to use and valuable for your study! - Elena

It is easy for a non-experienced database builder to create your own database using Castor. The database is easy to use for data-entry, monitoring and creating reports or surveys. You can add a lot of users and adjust the rights for each of the users. As an admin you have a clear overview on the progress of the study in all participating sites and you get a message every time a patient is included in the trial.

Sending out surveys is still a manual task, it would be great if by just entering the participants' email address, the surveys are sent automatically.

Hi Fleur, Thanks for your 5 star review, we really appreciate it! With regards to sending surveys when you add the email address, have you looked at our automation engine? https://helpdesk.castoredc.com/article/44-automatically-send-out-surveys That should hopefully make your life even easier! All the best, Derk Arts, MD PhD CEO Castor EDC

The most convenient thing about using Castor is that I do not have to send paper questionnaires and fill out all data manually. I created a survey and now my patients fill out the questions electronically. Subsequently the answers are converted to the nessecary data so I can perform my analyses. Another pro is that I can provide others access to the database but monitor their actions and changes, and also provide limited access in case of multicenter trials, to limit the risk of errors creating new cases.

I cannot see which patients have fully been included or have finished the study. Although a progress bar is included now, some questions are not obligatory and are still counted for the study progress. But there is not much to dislike.

Hi Gwendolyn, Thanks for your positive review! We're glad you like our ePRO solution and the central user management. We recommend using the record progress for tracking the completeness of the records, which takes into account only required questions. We are planning including a record status option where you could mark your records accordingly depending on the specific study flow. Best, Elena

I like the clear layout and the structure. This type of structure makes my work easier

I have not found any disadvantages for my field of activity so far

We literally have found tons of uses for Castor. The ability to build your own forms quickly and knowing the data is stored in a GDPR Compliant way is a HUGE help for us. Also the validation options in the fields are really good / ensure high level of data quality. And Also, The SPSS export function is really a great help too!

The Surveys do not work well on Mobile phones and most of our research participants would use them that way.

Hi Mike, Great to hear that you have found so many uses of Castor and that you rate it with 5 stars on all aspects! Compliance and security, together with a helpful support team our some of our top priorities! There have been some small improvements in the survey mobile experience, but we are aiming for a full mobile optimization with our coming redesigns. Stay tuned! :) Best, Elena

It is realible and the helpdesk is excellent. Most important is the fact that collected data can be saved and archieved in a safe way, according to the current standards of regulation. The online platform enables efficient management of participants. The online survey feature is very useful to collect data, where the collected data can be stored directly in the database.

Loading of the entry fields sometime takes a while, although this could also be due to a poor internet connection.

The structure is intuïtive, solid and runs smoothly which is very important for multicenter research. It helped me significantly in my work as project manager of an international multicenter RCT.

There are still options for improvement, such as a reminder for participating researchers of a coming deadline for a study visit (but Castor may have added this feature since I last used it).

- Ease of Programming. I don't have any programming experience, but I was able to build out the whole EDC database by myself, just watching the tutorial videos and explanations on the Castor website. - Responsive Support. Mainly interacted with Customer Support leads, but as a whole was impressed that the support team took our issues seriously and followed through to conclusion. - Low Price. Honestly, likely too low of a price for the value. Others in the field are something like 10x what you are charging, or far more. - User Interface. I like the changes made recently. Really opens up the screen.

- Loading Time. This may be down to how I organized my Study with lots of repeated measures and a long architecture. But it takes a good 30-60 seconds to load up an individual Subject, and then 10 seconds or so to switch fields sometimes, most notably when I'm trying to dig through Reports. - Single Dependencies. Likely it would overcomplicate the programming, but being able to have more than 1 Dependency for an item would be useful. Only in a small percentage of cases, so the vast majority a single Dependency was sufficient. A like-to-have, not a need-to-have.

The platform is really user-friendly for both the person who enter data and the data manager (in my case). We can quite easily build a study from the ground up or use some other studies as a template by importing the structure. The Monitoring tab is really helpful for the tracking of queries or warning messages.

It is hard to tell what I do like least about Castor since I never used any other EDC system. I think that some features may be expanded. For instance, we have a cross-over study that will soon beon Live. We choose not to use the built-in randomization module because it was too limited for this specific study (it works really well for other studies). Also, the randomization tab is always available, which can lead to errors because some people randomize the patient before being certain that the patient can be included in the study.

Dear Cristophe, Thank you for your 5 star review! User friendliness is of course one of our main priorities! While some randomization features might be limited, we have recently introduced the possibility to use an external randomization list within Castor, so this might be helpful for some future studies! There are also workarounds for limiting the randomization to eligible records. Please reach out to our support team to discuss the options! Best regards, Elena Kochova, MD Sr. Customer Success Manager

I find the CASTOR EDC very simple and easy to use. The updates that have been implemented haven't disrupted any data collection like some other systems do. The randomisation aspect is always quick and responsive, with no delay for the outcome. I find it to be an intuitive system.

As mentioned, the randomisation aspect is quick, however since one of the updates the button has now moved to the left of the screen and it just says "not randomised". Until you select this option is may not be obvious that this is how you randomise patients as it looks like a statement, rather than an option to select. A minor fault in an otherwise great system!

I really like Castor EDC. It is easy to build and has many features. I use Castor EDC on a daily basis for my multicentre RCT. It is easy that I an keep in touch with other centres through this system. Futhermore, it is very easy to send out questionnaires. The most positive thing about Castor is that you have all your data in one place. Finally, Catsor has a very good customer service. If I have a problem, I get a respons in one hour. At the beginning we had some difficulties with our study, and Castor invited us to their main office to help us.

I hope in feature, Castor will be linked with EPIC. Furthermore, I hope will be possible to sign Informed Consents in Castor.

Easy to use and understand. The manual provided is very extensive and answers practically all your answers. Researchers themselves can create their own database without extensive software knowledge such as Oracle Clinical. The helpdesk is also very swift in replying to one's questions.

The study part of Castor is not yet compatible with the screens of mobile phones and tablets. Hopefully soon. The validations and dependencies could be extended to multiple fields to minimize the use of extra calculation fields.

What I like about Castor is that I can create a user-friendly database that will also create a user-friendly output, i.e. that I can already prepare the data as much as possible to make data analysis easier.

More possibilities regarding surveys would add even more value: automatic reminders to subjects to complete their survey, notifications if surveys have not been completed yet (in addition to the existing notifications that surveys have been completed).

Hi Brechtje, Thank you for this review! We are working on automatic reminders, something that's been on the top of our list! Notifications for non-completion will be a next step afterwards. Good luck further with your research in Castor! Best, Elena

Easy to use, customer friendly. Easily adjustable.

Sometimes Castor works too slow, so if i'm filling it in while seeing patients, it takes too long. Furthermore, some features do not work properly (like mark whole steps as missing, when the step is too large)

Hi M, Thanks for leaving a review, good to hear you're mostly positive! :). Slow downs of the system are usually a result of having a large amount of fields on a single step. We are currently implementing a warning message in our form builder to warn against adding more than 50 fields to a single step, hopefully that should prevent this issue in the future. If you think there's another cause for the slowness, please contact support when this occurs. Thanks again! Derk Arts CEO Castor EDC

Ease of moving from one subject to the next, as well as moving page to page within a subject.

There is nothing about Castor that I do not like.