What Onyx does ?

Onyx facilitates the work of the staff members by allowing them to collect data electronically:

• obtain participant consent with the help of an electronic signature pad

  (if your assessment centre does not have a signature pad or the pad is not available, you record the fact that the patient signed a printed consent form in Onyx)

• complete onscreen questionnaires with participants

• set up participants to answer self-administered questionnaires on a touchscreen or a workstation

• record the collection of biospecimens (using a barcode scanner to identify the sample or entering a sample number manually)

• register physical measurements such as height, weight, bone density, and any other measurements that the study may require

Onyx provides researchers with tools that allow them to optimize the workflow of baseline interviews:

• control stage availability and dependencies between stages (some examples: require that consent was obtained before an interview can proceed; prevent staff from taking measurements or samples that are contraindicated; ensure that dependent measurements are done in the correct order)
• capture administrative parameters such as start and end times of each stage
• automate the calibration of electronic instruments used to take physical measurements
• produce personalized reports for participants
• export encrypted data to multiple destinations

Some things Onyx does not do

While Onyx includes many features and functions that an assessment centre needs, it does not include the following functionality:

• Onyx does not allow you to schedule participant appointments. The appointment list must be imported into Onyx.

• Onyx does not arbitrarily decide when and whether you can proceed with a certain stage of an interview.

  Onyx is highly configurable and customizable. Each research study defines its own questionnaires, the physical measurments and biospecimens to be collected, the order of interview stages, and the conditions for passing from one stage to another.

  Based on how your research study configured Onyx, Onyx may inform you that a stage is contraindicated or prompt you about what to do during a certain stage.

  For example because of the participant’s answers to certain questions, Onyx might prompt you about how to measure the participan’ts blood pressure: Use the participant’s right arm to take blood pressure

• Onyx does not allow you to analyze the data collected from participants. It can export the data to other destinations where the analysis can be done.

• Onyx is not a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS). It does not track processing of biospecimens.