Arbor Research > Programs > Technology Services

Technology Services

Whether designing a system for original data capture from patients or providers or drawing upon existing data from claims or electronic health records, our approach to data management is rigorous and comprehensive. We are committed to meticulous methods for handling data to ensure that information is clean, complete, and secure. Arbor Research has engaged in several projects that improve the collection, presentation, and interpretation of hundreds of terabytes of data.

ArborLink Software

ArborLink is a configurable web-based electronic data collection (EDC) system, in a redundant high-availability environment, which provides the highest data quality possible for research and analysis. It supports the unique protocols in observational research with features that are not included with other available tools, such as materials collection and shipping management for biosamples, pathological and radiological materials. The latest release of ArborLink includes improved study management and reporting components, powerful validations, suppressions and queries, and co-enrollment between sub-studies. Improved workflows reduce shipping reconciliation costs, patient screening and tracking costs. ArborLink is 21 CFR Part 11 compliant, and will support FDA-regulated interventional trials.

ArborLink combines features offered by many clinical trials solutions – such as real-time data validation and study management tools – with features needed for international observational studies. ArborLink responds uniquely with configurable protocols adapted for each translated language and medical culture, and implementation of the complex study and sampling protocols, and management of biosample collection and processing. ArborLink has been used for over 20 research study protocols in over 20 countries, with each ArborLink implementation configured to meet the unique needs of the study.

ArborLink is a success not in spite of the fact that Arbor Research is not a software development shop, but because of it. Our multidisciplinary collaboration among users, clinicians, analysts, and study monitors provides invaluable context and insight for IT development staff in providing a product with real value-added to each study it supports.

Program Leadership

Vice President, Information

David Dickinson, MA

Vice President, Information

David Dickinson, MA

Mr. Dickinson is Vice President, Information at Arbor Research Collaborative for Health, oversees the intersection of information architecture, analytic, and technology efforts. Mr. Dickinson holds a BA from Haverford College and an MA, Applied Economics from the University of Michigan. His experience bridges econometric training, analytic activities, and software system development in the design of applications and databases for economic and health research. As the lead architect of analytic data systems at Arbor Research, he directs senior managers in data services and application development. Mr. Dickinson was instrumental in the development of the ArborLink system, implemented to support data collection and study management in 20 countries and for multiple NIH- and privately-funded research consortia. For other federal agencies and private funders, he has overseen the adaptation of billing, EHR, survey, and abstracted data into structured analytic files, including the regular adaptation of hundreds of gigabytes of operational data for public release as part of the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR). He has provided technical and analytic oversight for the design, development, and successful implementation of multiple websites for the dissemination of important health care information to a range of professional and lay audiences, and published these interactive systems in .gov and private environments. Prior to joining Arbor Research in 1998, Mr. Dickinson held analytic and data systems positions with the Urban Institute and the University of Michigan.
Director of Data Services

Shannon Li, MS

Director of Data Services

Shannon Li, MS

Ms. Li earned her MS in Health Informatics with a minor in Health Services Research and Policy from the University of Minnesota. Ms. Li oversees all the database support activity within Arbor Research. She has extensive experience in managing health care data to support large-scale (national and international) research projects and directs the effort of promoting the usage of health care data exchange for outcome research. Since joining Arbor Research in 2002, she has led several National Institutes of Health-funded research projects that used ArborLink software for customized study protocols for the primary data collection, as well as the deployment of a multi-language data collection application for a fifteen-year longitudinal study. She has also led the team to organize the process of using claims data and other analytical data warehouses that are sized in terabytes to support policy-making analysis. Her IT skills and background in Health Informatics and Medicine bring a unique perspective of information technology in the healthcare field.
Applications Development Manager

Ben Guidinger, BS

Applications Development Manager

Ben Guidinger, BS

Since joining Arbor Research in 2006, Mr. Guidinger has overseen the development and operations of all in-house software engineering projects, as well as the various websites hosted by Arbor Research. Those websites include: the Arbor Research website (ArborResearch.org); the Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study website (DOPPS.org); a dialysis facility reporting website for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (DialysisReports.org); various research-related websites sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (NCCD.CDC.gov/CKD), Health Resources and Services Administration (LivingDonorAssistance.org), and National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (USRDS.org); and all current implementations of the ArborLink suite of data-collection websites. Prior to joining Arbor Research, Mr. Guidinger worked as a lead software engineer at several companies, including United Health Group, Ford Motor Company, and Motorola. Mr. Guidinger received a BS in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan.