case study

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Preemptively managing the side effects of cancer treatment through model-driven clinical decision support

Cancer patients face a myriad of distressing symptoms and side effects from their disease and treatments. However, current approaches to symptom management are often fragmented and inconsistent.

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) has launched an innovative Symptom Management Pathways initiative to preemptively manage the side effects of cancer treatment by leveraging digital technologies, DFCI expertise, and the latest clinical evidence. By standardizing care pathways for managing cancer-related symptoms, DFCI is enhancing patient outcomes, increasing patient and caregiver engagement, streamlining clinical workflows, and extending the impact of its expertise.

Central to this effort is DFCI’s partnership with Trisotech to integrate clinical decision support automation into providers’ existing Epic® EHR workflows. DFCI has developed symptom management pathways through standardized clinical decision support models and workflows that provide evidencebased recommendations to patients and providers at the point of care. This promotes the delivery of effective clinical, educational, and community-based interventions that help prevent, mitigate, and treat symptoms in a consistent way – ultimately improving patient outcomes, increasing satisfaction, streamlining operations, and reducing costs.

This case study exemplifies how digital transformation, through the strategic application of Trisotech’s Digital Enterprise Suite, can significantly improve cancer symptom treatment thus setting a benchmark for other healthcare institutions to follow.