Customer stories


Institute for Child Development, SUNY at Binghamton

Research and services for children with autism and related disorders are organized and supported by a comprehensive FileMaker Pro 7 system

Providing a wide range of clinical, educational, and diagnostic services to children with autism, learning disabilities, and related disorders, the Institute for Child Development at the Department of Psychology of the State University of New York at Binghamton is an important center for research and training for graduate and undergraduate students, and nursing and medical students. Programs and studies at the Institute help pave the way for new treatments and a greater understanding of the causes of such childhood disorders.


Business challenges

The Institute for Child Development processes a great deal of data - patient records, case histories, and extensive background information as well as the routine, day-to-day administrative material generated by a busy clinical and research organization. Not only must that information be stored for ready access, the research data must be available for analysis, cross checking, and presentation to staff members. Daily routines require that comprehensive schedules be generated, program materials prepared, and reports issued on a regular basis.

A centralized FileMaker Pro database system handles all of these tasks. "We've used FileMaker since the beginning," declares Dr. Romanczyk, "FileMaker Pro is the engine that drives all of our activities."


Successful solution

"We're using FileMaker Pro in about every possible way," Dr. Romanczyk continues. "Probably the most interesting use is to store clinical information about the children's progress." Staff members record greatly detailed information about each child in the program, data that can include audio and video components as well as text, and they store all this material in FileMaker Pro. From the database, the information is processed and is made available at the touch of a button for projection in staff meetings. "The neat thing is that you can store references to a file or the contents of the file itself, and we're able to pull up every combination of a question or a variable from, a week ago, a year ago, or three years ago," Dr. Romanczyk notes. "It's highly interactive and customized, and most everything is button-driven."

Instruction materials for use in classroom settings are also generated in FileMaker Pro, and printed for distribution with a minimum of effort. And program staff use FileMaker Pro Mobile to collect information on the fly - for uploading into the main database from their Palm handheld devices. FileMaker Pro even plays a role in program security and payroll - with a barcode scanner connected to the personnel database checking the ID badges of employees reporting for work.

Prior to the introduction of FileMaker Pro 7, the system consisted of about 35 individual databases. But with FileMaker Pro 7's advanced features allowing multiple tables within a single database, a comprehensive consolidation of these files is underway.


We're able now to do things that we just couldn't do before - especially with multiple portals in a given record. And we've noticed a real, noticeable speed difference that's been very positive.

Dr. Raymond G. Romanczyk, Director, Institute of Child Development, Department of Psychology, State University of New York at Binghamton


Customer benefits

"Our migration to FileMaker Pro 7 has gone well," says Dr. Romanczyk. "We're able now to do things that we just couldn't do before - especially with multiple portals in a given record. And we've noticed a real, noticeable speed difference that's been very positive"

Development is also simplified. "Not to have to prepare separate databases for every little item has been wonderful," Dr. Romanczyk exults. "And I also appreciate the greater sophistication of the relationships in FileMaker Pro 7 -- it's not just a simple join, but rather multiple variables you can have in a join, generating complex results."

Rather than trying to migrate its databases incrementally, the Institute is taking a more efficient approach to the change - creating a parallel server running FileMaker Pro 7, and bit by bit migrating the existing files into the new environment while leaving the original system intact for daily use. When the migration is complete, the system will be switched over en masse - and the new, fully-FileMaker Pro 7 system will be up and ready to run with no disruption of service. "We're doing new things with FileMaker Pro 7 and it's clearly faster," concludes Dr. Romanczyk. "It's a quantum leap forward!"



Contact information

Contact Info for Customer:

Dr. Raymond G. Romanczyk
Director
Institute for Child Development
607-777-2829
rromanc@binghamton.edu
http://icd.binghamton.edu


Filemaker Contact:

Kevin Mallon
Public Relations Manager
FileMaker Inc.
408-987-7227
kevin_mallon@filemaker.com
http://www.filemaker.com


Overview
  • Service, research and training facility focusing on the causes and treatment of autism and related disorders
  • Approximately 50 employees, with 90 graduate and undergraduate students each semester
  • Based in Binghamton, NY
Industry
  • Higher Education
  • Scientific Research/Biotech
Solutions
  • System of approximately 35 FileMaker Pro databases serving clinical, research and administrative functions
  • Consolidation of database files in FileMaker Pro 7 is currently underway
Benefits
  • FileMaker Pro 7's multiple table capabilities allow rapid, easier database development
  • Sophisticated relational functions in FileMaker Pro 7 permit smoother and more complex linking of data
  • Program data is readily accessible for staff decision-making and presentations, and program materials are easily generated directly from within the database.