SMASCH: Facilitating multi-appointment scheduling in longitudinal clinical research studies and care programs

Longitudinal clinical research studies require conducting various assessments over long periods of time. Such assessments comprise numerous stages, requiring different resources defined by multidisciplinary research staff and aligned with available infrastructure and equipment, altogether constrained by time. While it is possible to manage the allocation of resources manually, it is complex and error-prone. Efficient multi-appointment scheduling is essential to assist clinical teams, ensuring high participant retention and producing successful clinical studies, directly impacting patient throughput and satisfaction. We present Smart Scheduling (SMASCH) system [1], a web application for multi-appointment scheduling management aiming to reduce times, optimise resources and secure personal identifiable information. SMASCH facilitates clinical research and integrated care programs in Luxembourg, providing features to better manage multi-appointment scheduling problems (MASPs) characteristic of longitudinal clinical research studies and speed up management tasks. It is present in multiple clinical research and integrated care programs in Luxembourg since 2017, including Dementia Prevention Program, the study for Mild Cognitive Impairment and gut microbiome, and the National Centre of Excellence in Research on Parkinson’s disease [2] which encompasses the study for REM sleep behaviour disorder and the Luxembourg Parkinson’s Study. SMASCH is a free and open-source solution available both as a Linux package and Docker image.