Changes & Improvements

• Left-hand Navigation Menu

  • The Project Home and Design area of the left-hand navigation menu includes two changes:
    • The Project Setup link has been shortened to just "Setup"
    • Longitudinal projects now include a new link in this area named "Events" that goes to the Define My Events page
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• Designate Instruments for My Events

  • The REDCap Shared Library includes a feature to import multiple PROMIS instruments bundled together in a battery:
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    • The instruments are bundled together, because they are designed to be completed as a group.
    • When assigning the battery of PROMIS instruments to an event, if you select the first instrument in the battery, REDCap will automatically check the boxes to include the rest of the instruments in the battery in the event, as shown in the below gif:
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• Form Display Logic

  • Form Display Logic is now available for use within an indefinitely repeating event.
    • For example: if you have two forms on a repeating event, but the second form should only be available for data entry if a variable on the first form has been answered in such a way.
      • Form Display Logic for the second form can be configured using the [current-instance] smart variable: [firstform_variable][current-instance] = '1'
    • Alternatively, if you could reference the previous instance of the repeating event to determine if a form should be available.
      • Form Display Logic for the second form can be configured using the [previous-instance] smart variable: [firstform_variable][previous-instance] = '1'

• Repeating Instances

  • A new window has been added for viewing repeating instances of forms. You can access this new window from either the Record Status Dashboard or a record’s Home Page by clicking on a stack of form status icons:
    • Rather than displaying a single list that could have hundreds of entries, REDCap now shows the first 10 instances of repeating forms, and then allows you to page through all remaining entries in groups of 10.
    • The list can be filtered by Form Status, by clicking the Form Status icon(s) you wish to exclude from the displayed list, or by searching the number of the repeated instance you wish to view.
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  • This pagination and filtering has also been added to the table of repeating instruments in an individual record's homepage.

If you're using REDCap to send out survey invitations, you likely should be sending them securely. Since most survey invitations that are sent from REDCap contain some degree of OHSU restricted information, it is best practice to treat all invitations as such and to send them using OHSU's secure email. As of May 25th, 2025, OHSU made it easier for recipients to receive secure email, so now is a good time to ensure that you're sending survey invitations securely with REDCap.

How Has OHSU Simplified Sending Surveys Securely?

Previously, all recipients of secure emails were required to log into OHSU's secure email system. OHSU now attempts to deliver all secure emails directly to the recipient’s email inbox, rather than having all recipients log into the secure email system. This includes emails sent from REDCap via automated survey invitations or alerts & notifications. If you are already sending secure emails, the process for you has not changed. If you need information about how to send invitations securely, please read on below. 

As a reminder for research studies, all survey invitations (including subject lines) sent by REDCap must be approved by the IRB. Please consult with the IRB about questions regarding secure email or subject line changes.

How do I Send Survey Invitations Securely from REDCap?

If you're using REDCap to send survey invitations via email, and if those emails are being sent externally and contain OHSU restricted information, then they must be sent securely. 

Whether it's Automated Survey Invitations (ASIs) or manually composing a survey invitation, sending these invitations securely from REDCap is as simple as adding "Secure" as the first word in the subject line. See screenshots below for where to find the subject line for of each of these:

• Automated Survey Invitations (ASI)
  
           
  
  
• Manually composing a survey invitation
  
           

Please note that if you are sending other messages via Alerts & Notifications to participants, external collaborators, or any other external email addresses, these should be sent securely using the same technique of adding "Secure" to the first word in the subject line.