According to the National Cancer Institute, breast and colorectal cancer are a few of the most common cancer types worldwide. However, American Cancer Society studies show that the 5-year relative survival rates are 90% for breast cancer and 64% for colorectal cancer. Even though the survival rates seem high, there is always a recurrence chance. Therefore, survivorship care plans for cancer survivors matter a lot in order to prevent cancer recurrence.
The need for better and recent-technology-oriented survivorship care plans made PERSIST to be born with a consortium of 13 different partners from 10 countries all over Europe. PERSIST aims to demonstrate the power of big data technology in bringing about crucial changes in cancer care delivery by providing personalized clinical decision support. To that aim, a dynamic clinical decision support system is created.
Why clinical decision support system?
Clinical decision support systems are software that helps physicians and healthcare professionals, in short, decision-makers, especially in the decision-making process for complex situations. It facilitates the clinical process by providing resource-based information and details in clinical processes such as diagnosis of diseases and treatments to be applied to clinicians and healthcare professionals. It ensures easier and error-free process management thus improving patients’ quality of life.
Emoda Software (EMO) Role in PERSIST
EMO’s main aim in PERSIST is to make processes easier for clinicians. Alongside the clinical decision support system development for PERSIST, Emoda Software has taken one of the key technology development places to connect patients and clinicians: the mClinician app and the mHealth app.
CDSS for Risk Assessment
Since PERSIST deals with colon and breast cancer survivors, it was mandatory to consider recurrence possibilities in order to provide survivors with better care delivery. To do so, the clinical decision support system (CDSS) assesses colon and breast cancer recurrence risks, cardiovascular disease risks and various PROMs and PREMs answers. In the end, according to the CDSS analyses, clinicians are warned about cancer survivors’ well-being and receive CDSS suggestions.
mHealth App
A mobile application called the mHealth app for cancer survivors is designed to collect survivors’ vital data (blood pressure, steps taken, heart rate, etc.). Via the mHealth app, survivors receive notifications periodically to make them complete PROMs and PREMs questions. mHealth app also enables survivors to record video dairies and emotional statuses.
mClinician App
mClinician is designed as both a mobile and web-based app for clinicians to see survivors’ well-being data and CDSS outputs. mClinician web app enables clinicians to define survivors’ prospective data in very much detail. mClinician mobile app sends push notifications about CDSS results and warnings to clinicians. Clinicians also run the CDS service that they want separately and manually via the mClinician mobile app where they can also see the trajectory analysis results in addition to CDS outputs.
Keywords: CDSS, mHealth, mClinician, personalized, cancer care
Authors’ names and positions:
Gonca Toprak, Project Coordinator, Emoda Software
Tunç Cerit, Software Development Manager, Emoda Software