REDCap Service Updates

Dear CRI Community,

We want to provide a brief update on REDCap. The system remains available on the local network only while maintenance continues. “Local network” includes the University of Chicago campus and UChicago Medicine hospital networks, as well as VPN connections.

Public surveys:

• Public surveys are available to anyone on the local network, including users connected through VPN.
• Public surveys remain unavailable off campus without VPN.
• As of today, reCAPTCHA is required and already enabled on all public surveys, regardless of network or VPN connection. Participants will be asked to complete a brief verification step before beginning the survey. No action is needed to enable this feature, but study teams may wish to let participants know to expect this step.

CRI and BSD IS are now testing the performance issues as part of our work to restore full service.

In the meantime, please continue to follow the downtime approach your project or unit has put in place. As a reminder, alternative data capture options include exporting your instruments and storing them securely in UChicago Box, moving to manual data capture for public facing surveys, or using an alternative electronic tool after confirming with your local security team that it is appropriate for your data. Clinical trials and other regulated studies should check with their IRB and, where applicable, their sponsor before changing data collection methods.

We appreciate your continued patience as we complete this work carefully and will send another update tomorrow.

Please contact cri@cri.uchicago.edu with any questions.

Julie A. Johnson, PhD, MPH, RN
Administrative Director
Center for Research Informatics

Dear CRI Community,

As a follow-up to our earlier announcement, REDCap remains available on the local network only while maintenance continues. Access is available on the University of Chicago campus and UChicago Medicine hospital networks, or through VPN. Public surveys and off-campus access without VPN remain unavailable.

We have received a number of questions about alternative solutions and downtime procedures. Each project or unit should develop a downtime approach together with its leadership, based on the needs of the project. Alternative data capture options include:

• Export and secure your instruments. Project instruments can be exported and stored securely in UChicago Box, so your team has them available as a reference.
• Move to manual data capture for public facing surveys. Projects can collect data on exported instruments and enter it into REDCap once full service is restored. Please store completed forms securely, in line with your project’s data management plan.
• Use an alternative electronic tool. Some projects may be able to use Qualtrics or Microsoft Forms. If you move in this direction, contact your local security team before collecting any data, to confirm that the tool is appropriate for the security level of the data it will capture. Please also plan how data collected in another tool will be brought back into REDCap once service is restored, so your project’s records remain complete and consistent.

Clinical trials and other regulated studies: Before changing your data collection methods, please check with your IRB and, where applicable, your study sponsor to confirm that the change is consistent with your approved protocol.

Thank you for your patience during this disruption. CRI and BSD IS are working diligently to restore full service as soon as possible, and we will send another update tomorrow.

Please contact cri@cri.uchicago.edu with any questions.

Julie A. Johnson, PhD, MPH, RN
Administrative Director
Center for Research Informatics

Dear CRI Community,

REDCap is currently experiencing system performance issues. To stabilize the system, REDCap remains online for local (on-campus) traffic only. “On campus” includes the full University of Chicago campus and UChicago Medicine hospital networks.

Who is affected:

• Public survey links – participants will be unable to access or submit public surveys at this time
• Users attempting to access REDCap from off campus without a VPN connection

What continues to work:

• Access for users on campus (University or hospital network) or connected through VPN
• API connections originating from on campus
• Mobile app (using VPN client)

CRI and BSD IS are working together to restore full service as quickly as possible. We will send updates as they become available.

If your study relies on public surveys with active participant outreach, please consider pausing distribution until service is restored.

Please contact cri@cri.uchicago.edu with any questions.

Thank you for your patience.

Julie A. Johnson, PhD, MPH, RN
Administrative Director
Center for Research Informatics