Symptom Monitoring Improves Quality of Life, Survival for Patients with Advanced Cancer
A recent study conducted at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York, NY) found that the use of electronic health technology for capturing patient-reported outcomes led to improved outcomes for patients with advanced cancer receiving chemotherapy.
Technology is playing a critical role in the health care industry's shift to patient-centered care. These technologies are particularly promising when it comes to the treatment of chronic diseases. Although doctors can observe patients directly during office visits, patients are left to manage their own care when they return home. Web-based health technologies can act as a direct extension of the doctor's care to the patient, bridging the gap between appointments and improving doctor/patient communication.
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Dr Ethan Basch led a study in which patients with advanced cancer receiving outpatient chemotherapy received weekly email alerts in which they were asked to rate their experience with 12 severe or disabling symptoms. Patients most commonly reported experiencing pain, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, energy loss, weight loss, and sleep disturbances. Because such symptoms are associated with worse survival in advanced cancer, the research team hypothesized that better symptom control could improve health-related quality of life and survival.
The patient-reported symptoms were collected and shared with health care providers electronically. Nurses received email alerts when a patient's reports were cause for concern, and they responded with direct interventions such as telephone counseling, medication changes, and emergency room or hospital referral.
As a result of the intervention, patients had better health-related quality of life, fewer hospitalizations or emergency room visits, received chemotherapy treatments for a longer period of time, and were more likely to be alive 1 year into the study than patients in the test group.
The authors concluded that implementation of a web-based system for symptom reporting with automated clinician email alerts led to improved outcomes for patients with advanced cancer.—Katie Grosso
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