Clinical Annotator

Provide services as a Clinical Annotator in support of the overall functions of Clinical Center (CC) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH Clinical Center's Rehabilitation Medicine Department is involved in a multi-year effort to assist the Social Security Administration to examine its disability evaluation processes and propose innovative methods for augmenting these processes. As part of this work, we analyze medical records submitted as evidence and require individuals with domain expertise related to human functioning to serve as Clinical Annotators. The Clinical Annotator labels medical records for key terms and information related to function and advises research team members on relevant directions for the work.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Provide final data sets for each project.
• Construct systematic processes for data entry and quality assurance from project onset through analysis. Perform data entry in support of a number of different systems and programs, both numerical and text format. Organize, implement, maintain, and archive data.
• Perform quality checks to ensure consistency, integrity and robustness of data.
• Maintain all necessary clearances and approvals to access limited data sets, restricted data files, and other data to be used for analysis.
• Gather available documentation on analytic data files and medical records.
• Develop and document an in-depth, detailed working knowledge of analytic data files
• Access, review, code, analyze, and interpret data files specifically including evidence of people's functional capabilities. 1
• Work with other annotators to cross-validate coding results. 2
• Evaluate, critically compare, and use various annotation software packages, including GATE, for the purposes of coding annotations.
• Provide feedback for improvements on annotation tools and process.
• Develop, implement and justify manual coding techniques, standards, and guidelines. 3
• Engage in efforts to promote the use of consistent and standardized coding.
• Assess the adequacy and quality of medical records Explain, interpret and justify manual coding results.
• Adhere to the highest ethical standards in all aspects of work on the project Gather and document terms on human functioning.
• Create or develop equivalent human functioning terms.
• Develop and provide advice on a repository of controlled terminologies and concepts used in coding work, with a view toward supporting the representation and interpretation of complex clinical data.
• Responsible for creating, maintaining and enhancing a terminology knowledge base.
• Interact with experts and authorities to verify terms to ensure technical and linguistic accuracy Provide linguistic and terminological assistance related to function to Section staff.
• Interpret results in conjunction with scientific collaborators including Section and Department staff.
• Create data workflow processes.
• Ensure that appropriate variables are captured in the constructed databases. Record data into a format appropriate for processing.
• Work with staff to prepare and standardize data for the database. Perform routine and general data management.
• Prepare tables and figures from data analyses.
• Complete data analyses and draft manuscript from study results.
• Create systematic documentation on reporting (completeness, changes or errors). Maintain data for past and present studies.
• Work with staff to curate data, retrieve records, generate reports and act as a liaison with academic and industry researchers.
• Compile results of analysis projects into detailed reports.
• Prepare and submit timely reports of substantive results for review. 4
• Conduct and/or collaborate on presentations for professional meetings, Government agencies, or academic venues; this will periodically require domestic and international travel.
• Maintain and update electronic copies of all databases and data dictionaries developed for projects. Maintain and update accurate and complete filing of data following data entry / QA.
• Follow established policies and procedures for the quality assurance of all study collection interfaces, storage and access.
• Maintain a variety of computerized files and records.
• Develop and maintain data management and quality assurance/quality control procedures that improve the transparency, consistency, accuracy and comparability of data which supports the integrity of research.
• Document methods and results sufficiently to ensure reproducibility by other researchers.
• Maintain tracking spreadsheet of tasks completed for each project and time spent conducting each task.
• Develop, maintain and update program database and spreadsheet. Participate in the design and implementation of data reporting tools. Evaluate data utility in developing and executing long-range strategic plans.
• Establish procedure to address inconsistencies and track resolutions. Develop data dictionaries for each database.
• Prepare databases and reports for staff; perform various tracking and analysis of branch data to include spreadsheet preparation and interpretation.
• Design, develop and maintain databases, Listservs, spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations and other computer applications.
• Identify possible trends and patterns in the data; communicate relevant findings that support problem solving and decision making.
• Track and solve problems during the data entry and QA processes.
• Provide description of procedures used to perform data quality assurance; update as procedures are developed.
• Provide log and description of project-related data, associated data management problems that were solved and their resolution.
• Participate in meetings with Government personnel to discuss approaches, plan next steps, present results, and monitor study progress. 5
• Provide instruction in methodological approaches and taxonomy Conduct in-services for department trainees
• Establish procedure to address inconsistencies and track resolutions. Develop data dictionaries for each database.
• Formulate appropriate data auditing plan and strategy to provide services to studies that are active and ongoing as required to ensure that the quality of the data meets the study goals and quality standards.
• Prepare databases and reports for staff; perform various tracking and analysis of branch data to include spreadsheet preparation and interpretation.
• Develop and maintain data management and quality assurance/quality control procedures that improve the transparency, consistency, accuracy and comparability of data which supports the integrity of research.
• Document methods and results sufficiently to ensure reproducibility by other researchers.
• Maintain tracking spreadsheet of tasks completed for each project and time spent conducting each task. Develop, maintain and update program database and spreadsheet.
• Work products and documents related to analysis of complex medical records, interpretation and dissemination of results - Quarterly
• Meet with lab members to present updates - Weekly
• Work products and documents related to documentation - Quarterly
• Work products and documents related to participating in meetings with staff to advance study progress - Monthly
• Work products and documents related to conducting relevant literature reviews - Ad-Hoc
• Work products and documents related to disseminating research and methods to scientific journals and venues - Ad-Hoc
• Work products and documents related to instruction in areas of substantive expertise to department students and trainees - Ad-Hoc

Basic Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in Physical Therapy.
• Must have Physical Therapy License.
• Experience with GATE Developer and MAC software.
• Experience with data presentation, data annotation, data analysis, and clinical research.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, with non-technical and technical staff.
• Detail-oriented and possess strong organizational skills with the ability to prioritize multiple tasks and projects.

• This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required by this position.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

GAP Solutions provides reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities. If you need an accommodation to apply for a job, email us at recruiting@gapsi.com. You will need to reference the requisition number of the position in which you are interested. Your message will be routed to the appropriate recruiter who will assist you. Please note, this email address is only to be used for those individuals who need an accommodation to apply for a job. Emails for any other reason or those that do not include a requisition number will not be returned.