Cancer teams work tirelessly to provide the best possible care while having to navigate the nuances of each patient’s individual journey.

But their efforts are often slowed down by an avoidable problem: archaic processes. Outdated IT systems affect efficiency and productivity, and while there are technologies available for cancer management, they are not nearly enough.

The current digital systems for cancer care

The available digital solutions for cancer management are built around the collection of key mandated data for national cancer reporting.

Collecting this data is important for developing health services to improve patient outcomes. This data helps identify healthcare disparities, observe trends, and pinpoint areas needing improvement. It’s this data that drives research, innovation, and service improvements.

So, what are the current cancer systems missing then?

They’re not designed to support or facilitate care pathways at the local level. They don’t provide the support healthcare professionals need to keep pace with the escalating demand and increasing complexity of cancer patients. Lack of resources and manpower are two of the biggest problems in cancer services, and the technology that they have now doesn’t do enough to help improve efficiency and save time by, for example, cutting down on repetitive, manual administrative tasks.

The reality on the ground for cancer teams

Imagine you’re an oncologist, dedicated to improving the lives of your patients. But instead of focusing on their care, you’re wrestling with illegible records and old, clunky systems that are slow and neither user-friendly nor intuitive.

You have to jump between multiple different systems to track the history of just one patient. And even then, you may not get the full, complete information of the patient, delaying your ability to make decisions. To top it all off, everyone records the information differently, adding to the already long-winded process.

This leads to cancer clinicians losing valuable time while their expertise is not efficiently used to deliver direct care to their patients.

And the challenges don’t end there; cancer coordinators and managers also have to keep track of every single patient to prevent breaches and ensure timely care, in accordance with national standards. This often requires laborious processes and meetings that can take several hours.

Meanwhile, their access to data is scattered across various systems, which means they spend more time trying to find the information rather than actually using it.

A novel digital solution is overdue

What if it was possible to equip cancer teams with a system that is designed to streamline their clinical and operational workflows while also capturing comprehensive data?

Imagine a platform where they can see the entire patient journey on a single screen, with all the relevant information, ranging from diagnostic test results to a patient’s living arrangements, recorded in a standardised way. No more logging into multiple systems, no more time wasted searching for patient information.

They need a solution that works for them — one with high-quality data and automation — to make their job more efficient and sustainable; a tool that provides dynamic, live patient tracking lists and real-time information; a system that bridges the gap between them and their patients, facilitating easy and quick access to accurate information; a system that gives them the tools to deliver personalised care by engaging and empowering patients in their journey.

And while it’s doing all this, what if this solution also captured structured data for broader service planning? It would gather all the necessary data and allow for easy reporting back to national cancer registries, making data collection and submission less of a massive undertaking.

It’s high time a digital solution like this existed — a solution that not only streamlines daily tasks but also contributes to the overall improvement of the system.

A solution that solves real problems

So, we went ahead and built one.

At Open Medical, we recognised the unique challenges that cancer teams face and the gap in digital solutions that can truly tackle the unique requirements of cancer teams, so we created Pathpoint Oncology, a novel digital Cancer Management System, that addresses the real problems on the ground while still providing high-level needs.

If you’re interested in finding out more, you can head over to www.openmedical.co.uk/oncology or contact us directly at info@openmedical.co.uk.