United States & Canadian Acedemy of Pathology
Website | Healthcare | Information Architecture
Client Background
The United States & Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP) is a global leader in the transmission of knowledge in the field of pathology.
The Problem
USCAP approached Logic Solutions with a detailed and comprehensive challenge – the need for physicians and specialists to quickly locate and obtain specific information to help them diagnose, research, teach, study, and perform other tasks related to the physician’s specific area of expertise.
The Association has a wealth of information and a perpetually growing library of content that spans educational assets, journals, textbooks, handouts, images, videos, and documents that have been collected over the past 50 years.
Unfortunately, the abundance of content was scattered, and a specialist seeking the information would need to conduct a lengthy and extensive content review to pinpoint the exact data needed. Some relied on Google searches, but the non-curated nature of Google content added further complexity to this challenge.
To allow for maximum collaboration, USCAP requested Logic to:
- Establish a web portal to organize and curate the massive store of information
- Enable an effective, intuitive search feature using Solr
- Integrate social networking features for USCAP’s members
- Provide a seamless transition to mobile devices
- Integrate PubMed library
Project Overview
- Re-architected the content and information on the Drupal site
- Upgraded Drupal versions
- Implemented Solr and new taxonomy
- Integrated with PubMed library
- Implemented responsive web design
“Logic Solutions developed a real partnership with the USCAP which will carry us into the next generation of technology.”
– Kerry Crockett, Executive Director/CFO at USCAP
The Solution
Logic Solutions was awarded this contract based on our overall solution, proven technical strength, UI/UX expertise, and project management methodology.
Among the challenges were; the complexity of USCAP’s business processes (educational requirements and individual member needs), the integration of multiple systems (back-end Association Management system and front-end 3rd party data sources), and the technical difficulties in converting its legacy data to the new system. The project had a multi-phase implementation:
- Launched the website with basic membership management functionality, online courses, and general information searching.
- Launched live meeting support, with meeting materials publication, live registration, and post-meeting evaluation that offers accredited academic certification.
Logic Solutions designed, architected, and developed a robust, flexible, and expandable system:
- Drupal-based development framework that allows developers to leverage existing, proven, and flexible code foundation, as well as provide a user interface for basic system configuration by the customer themselves.
- PHP development tool for the development environment for advanced and up-to-date web technology and future expansion
- A universal API (Application Programming Interface) structure that allows us to communicate to back-end (any) enterprise information management systems
- Content indexed not only on metadata but also on full contextual content whenever possible with enabled full-text indexing for users to search based on concepts and themes.
- A social networking element to the web portal, allowing user interaction with content through comments; annotations; ability to bookmark specific pages, flag context as favorite, rate/rank, suggest to others, and cut/paste selected content.
Today, USCAP’s Drupal websites service over 10,000 members and 16,000 registered users. Powered by Solr, thousands pathologists and scientist of simultaneously search, navigate, drill down and find online courses and other educational assets, an integrated PubMed library, textbooks, and other documents on MyPath “The preeminent research and resource tool for pathologists.” The sites support the largest multi-day pathology conference in the world with almost 5,000 attendees and no margin for downtime or missed deliverables.