Integrating electronic health records (EHRs) to facilitate cancer biomarker testing: Real-world implementation barriers and solutions.

Authors

null

Karen M. Huelsman

TriHealth Cancer Institute, Cincinnati, OH

Karen M. Huelsman , Caroline Offit , Wendi Waugh , Christopher McNair , Sandra E. Kurtin , Crystal Enstad , Courtney Rice , Travis Osterman , Peter Paul Yu , Gregg Christian Shepard , Nikki A. Martin , Joseph Kim , Molly Kisiel , Elana Plotkin

Organizations

TriHealth Cancer Institute, Cincinnati, OH, Association of Community Cancer Centers, Rockville, MD, SOMC Cancer Center, Portsmouth, OH, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, Banner University Medical Center, University of Arizona Cancer Center, Tucson, AZ, Sanford USD Medical Center, Sioux Falls, SD, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, Hartford HealthCare Cancer Institute, Hartford, CT, Tennessee Oncology, Nashville, TN, LUNGevity Foundation, Bethesda, MD, Xaf Solutions, Newtown, PA, Association of Cancer Care Centers, Rockville, MD

Research Funding

Genentech
AstraZeneca

Background: Effective integration between EHRs and cancer biomarker testing processes is an unmet need across academic and community settings. Despite the benefits of EHR-integrated workflows and the desire for streamlined test results, as supported by a recent ASCO Workforce Survey, many health systems do not currently have this capacity, especially when reference labs are external to the ordering institution. Methods: The Association of Cancer Care Centers (ACCC) convened a live summit on October 4, 2023 to understand facilitators and barriers to integrating biomarker orders and results into the EHR. To capture a comprehensive perspective, ACCC convened 37 oncologists, pathologists, nurse navigators, and administrators from diverse settings using a range of EHRs, patient advocacy groups, and EHR/testing companies. Thematic analysis of the summit transcript and a post-summit assessment was employed to identify common experiences among participants. Results: The key benefits of EHR integration include increased efficiency with test ordering/result retrieval, streamlined communication, and improved clinical decision-making. Factors associated with successful EHR integration include strong clinical champions, creation of a precision medicine oversight committee, buy-in from administrative leadership, IT support to build EHR customizations, support from EHR vendors/reference labs, and coordinated project management. Notable barriers include variations in EHR interoperability, utilization of multiple reference labs, lack of consistent nomenclature, resistance to change, allocation of time for post-integration updates/maintenance, lack of internal IT capabilities/resources, and a need to establish different clinical workflows depending on which clinician places the biomarker order. Conclusions: The rapid expansion of biomarker-driven cancer treatments requires oncologists to have timely access to guideline-concordant clinical information to inform complex clinical decision-making. While EHRs can streamline clinical workflows, these results underscore the need to address operational and human factors to facilitate successful EHR-laboratory integration. Strategies to address barriers and build successful EHR integrations across diverse clinical oncology settings are crucial for optimizing how cancer biomarker tests are ordered, reported and used in clinical practice.

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Abstract Details

Meeting

2024 ASCO Annual Meeting

Session Type

Publication Only

Session Title

Publication Only: Care Delivery/Models of Care

Track

Care Delivery and Quality Care

Sub Track

Digital Technology

Citation

J Clin Oncol 42, 2024 (suppl 16; abstr e13649)

DOI

10.1200/JCO.2024.42.16_suppl.e13649

Abstract #

e13649

Abstract Disclosures