There is no one-click import of a Medrio study, and the forms are rarely the hard part. The hard parts are the contract, the data you must be able to prove and the date you cut over. Here is a plan a data manager can follow and a sponsor can audit.
Free sandbox · No credit card · 21 CFR Part 11 aligned
weeks
Term, notice, exports
What to know first
Why teams look
Medrio is a known EDC in the early-phase and mid-sized segment, and for teams with established templates and many similar studies it can be a sensible choice. Teams start searching for an exit for reasons that are mostly structural: a change to a form that waits in a queue, a contract term longer than the study plan, add-on modules that are priced and configured separately, or a simple wish to try a self-serve tool before committing again.
Before you move anything, put those questions to your current vendor in writing. A clearer quote or a faster amendment may be the cheaper fix. If it is not, Medrio alternatives lays out the shortlist criteria and Capture vs Medrio is the side-by-side. Protocol amendments without change orders shows how amendment control works when your own team holds the builder, and hidden EDC fees is a checklist for reading the quote you hold.
Be honest about timing. A migration announced two weeks before an interim safety review is a risk to the dataset; one planned before the next cohort or protocol starts is just a project. Capture is suitable for Phase 1, 2 and 3, so the destination can follow a programme as it grows.
The path
Written for a sponsor, CRO or site team moving the next study, cohort or protocol. A study that is already recruiting can move too, with the extra care described under mid-study moves.
Find the term, the notice period, auto-renewal, what you may export and in which format, and whether archives or additional extracts carry a fee. Put the earliest possible exit date beside your study calendar.
Pick one date after which no new data enters the old system. For a dose-escalation study that is usually between cohorts. A single date is easier to document in the data management plan and to explain to sites than a gradual hand-over.
Request the study data in the formats your agreement provides, plus the audit trail, query history, signed documents and the form specification or annotated CRF. File them with the trial master file with the date, the extract version and who generated them.
Open a draft form in Capture and upload the specification as CSV, XLSX, PDF or DOCX. The AI drafts questions, choice lists and lab tables, and flags what it cannot match. Nothing is saved until a person approves it. For the schedule, upload the protocol and the AI Study Generator drafts the visits and windows for review.
Recreate branching as skip logic and your range and custom-value rules as edit checks that raise auto-queries. Use the built-in calculators for derived values such as BMI, eGFR or QTcF where they apply. Simplify any logic that depended on scripted functions.
Run sample participants through every visit, break each check on purpose, sign, and review the audit trail. Keep the scripts and results as validation evidence. See computer system validation.
Give each role the right access, show coordinators how queries and signatures work, and set the date. Add a site, share its QR code or invitation, and enrol from the cut-over date.
Keep the Medrio export as the record of everything collected before cut-over. Write a one-page variable map pairing old and new names, units and codes, and join the two datasets on participant identifier during analysis.
Data mapping
A category-level guide using generic EDC terms. Check each line against your own build.
| Item in the old system | Where it goes in Capture | Effort |
|---|---|---|
| Forms, fields and choice lists | AI-drafted from an uploaded specification, then reviewed field by field | Low to moderate |
| Visit schedule and windows | Drafted from the protocol or rebuilt in the visit editor | Low to moderate |
| Edit checks and derivations | Range and custom-value edit checks with auto-queries; built-in clinical calculators | Moderate |
| Cohort and arm structure | Arms and epochs configured in the study; test your cohort design in the sandbox | Moderate |
| Subject data collected so far | Stays in the original export; merged with the Capture export at analysis | Mapping exercise |
| Queries and audit trail history | Archived with the trial master file; not copied into the new audit trail | Archive task |
| Roles and site users | New accounts with researcher, site coordinator and admin roles | Low |
| Participant questionnaires and consent | Rebuilt as ePRO questionnaires and eConsent templates in the same study | Moderate |
| Standards outputs such as CDISC SDTM | Capture exports SDTM datasets as SAS XPT with Define-XML; compare against your existing specification | Review |
Capture does not copy another system's audit trail into its own. The audit trail starts with the first entry in Capture.
The free sandbox includes every feature. Compare the draft with the original and time the review.
The slow part, sped up
Whatever the starting point, rebuilding forms by hand is the part of a migration that eats weeks. In Capture you hold the builder. Upload the specification and the AI proposes the structure; your data manager spends the time on what matters, such as units, required flags, ranges and the link between a form and a visit.
Drafted from uploaded specification
Heart rate
EGHRAI proposed range 30 to 200 · review
QT interval
EGQTQTcF (Fridericia)
QTCFOverall interpretation
Be realistic
Your data does not move automatically. Capture does not import a Medrio study. Historical subject data stays in the export you take from the old system and is merged at analysis. If your statistical plan needs one continuous dataset, agree the variable map and code lists before the first participant is entered in Capture, not after.
History does not move. Query threads, the old audit trail and signature records are archived as documents. The audit trail in Capture starts at the first entry; it is field-level, append-only and records user, time, old value, new value and reason for change.
Custom logic may need to be simplified. Anything written as scripted functions or unusual derivations has to be re-expressed as skip logic, edit checks or one of the built-in calculators. List these early; they are where the review time goes.
Integrations are rebuilt, not copied. If your current study feeds a coding tool, a safety database or a lab data feed, decide how each connection will work after the move. This page does not claim a connector for any of them, and medical coding of adverse events and medications is a process you should keep in place and document.
Training and SOPs change. Your data management plan, CRF completion guidelines and site training slides need a new version number. Budget for that as a task, not an afterthought. The 21 CFR Part 11 compliance checklist is a good frame for what a sponsor should verify in any EDC.
Validation and cutover
Notice period, export entitlements and any fees written down and signed off by procurement.
Data, audit trail, queries, signed documents and specifications stored with the trial master file.
Old to new names, units and codes approved by the statistician before the build is locked.
Every old rule listed, rebuilt or deliberately retired with a reason.
Sandbox scripts, expected and actual results, deviations and approvals.
Whether ethics or participants need to be told of a new questionnaire or consent system; prefer a new cohort or study for the move.
Roles assigned, a short guide issued and a date after which only Capture is used.
New version describing the system, the cut-over date and the merge approach.
If you cannot wait
Sometimes the agreement ends before the study does. Then the cut-over date is a design decision with consequences: every participant mid-way through the visit schedule will have some visits in the old system and the rest in Capture. Build the Capture schedule so that it starts at the next visit, carry the participant identifier across unchanged, and record the rule in the data management plan. How to switch EDC vendors mid-study walks through the risks in more detail.
Run the sandbox rebuild in parallel with the live study so nobody has to guess how long your forms take. It is free and costs nothing if the answer is to stay.
Items done
5 of 8
Cut-over date
Set
What changes
No. There is no direct import. Export your data and form specifications, use AI to draft the new forms from an uploaded CSV, XLSX, PDF or DOCX, rebuild logic and checks, and merge historical data at analysis.
The term and notice period, auto-renewal, what you may export and in which formats, and whether archiving or additional extracts carry fees. These set your earliest realistic cut-over date and are worth reading before you plan the technical work.
Archive them with the trial master file. They are not copied into Capture. The audit trail in Capture starts at the first entry and is field-level and append-only.
At a boundary such as a new study, a new cohort or the next protocol. If the agreement forces a mid-study move, choose one cut-over date, keep participant identifiers unchanged and document the rule in the data management plan.
The AI produces a first draft in minutes; review time depends on the number of forms and how much custom logic there is. Time one or two forms in the free sandbox to estimate the rest.
Yes. Capture exports SDTM datasets as SAS XPT files with Define-XML. Compare the mapping with your current specification during testing.
No. The free sandbox has every feature with sample data, no credit card and no time limit. There are no setup fees, and you pay only once you go live with real participants.
Keep exploring
Upload a specification to the free sandbox, review the draft and decide with evidence. No credit card, no sales call. Start building your study free.