Looking after your data

Backing up 3di data and reports

It is vital that the patient data you record by running 3di interviews, and the reports the 3di generates from those data, are both secure (protected from unauthorised access) and backed up (protected from damage or loss). If you are working in an institutional environment such as the NHS these requirements are met by your employer – who will describe the related practices you must follow.

If you are working in private practice then you become responsible for the management of patient data. In broad terms you need to prevent unauthorised access through techniques such as encrypting your device (e.g. with the help of BitLocker in Windows), and ensure backing up of data (most effectively by synchronising files to secure cloud storage such as Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive). The 3di cannot make definitive recommendations – not least because the technologies and their vulnerabilities are constantly changing!

However you ensure the protection of your data it will help to recall how the 3di organises its files – you may like to refer to The 3di and the disc filing system. Inside a Backends folder you will find a folder for each of your backends. Within the backend folder Clinic you would find the backend data file 3di2_Clinic_be – that’s the file which records everything you have entered on the 3di interview forms (but not any Reports you may have generated). You would find also a folder called Cases, and within that folder a collection of folders with six-digit names such as 000004 or 000127: in each of these folders are all the Reports and other documents relating to the child whose Case_ID appears in the cyan box at the top-right of the Case Manager. Accordingly, copying or synchronising an entire backend folder (in this example, the folder called Clinic) backs up all recorded data and all 3di clinical reports.

Should just the backend file 3di2_Clinic_be become damaged or lost, you would replace it with the synchronised or copied version. Should the damage also affect your Reports, you would replace the complete Clinic backend folder with the synchronised or copied backup.