The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to improve outcomes for patients in cancer treatment. Such patients often suffer from side effects of cancer treatment, such as dehydration and nausea. By enhancing communication between providers and patients, the project seeks to better manage such symptoms and thereby improve outcomes for patients, including lower readmission and emergency department visits and associated costs for Medicare, Medicaid and private payors. The project will enhance scientific and technological understanding by creating a knowledge base of symptoms patients are experiencing. If we are successful we will be able to improve cancer treatment and lower costs in the United States at a time when the number of cancer patients is projected to increase significantly. These benefits are likely to create strong commercial demand for our product from hospitals, Accountable Care Organizations and outpatient cancer centers, which are increasingly under pressure by legislation and private payors to reduce treatment costs.
The proposed project seeks to address the problem of poor communication between providers and cancer patients (which is partially responsible for extremely high readmission and emergency department visits) who are experiencing nausea, dehydration, neutropenia and other side effects. The project seeks to obtain patient symptoms and report them to providers for potential earlier intervention and outcome improvement. The methods to be employed include assembling an expert panel, creating software and then conducting a feasibility trial. Key goals include demonstrating the feasibility of obtaining patient symptoms and that providers find the information useful and actionable.
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project developed and tested the feasibility of a tool to improve communicaton between patients and providers. Increased provider-patient communication can improve health outcomes and reduce costs, including reducing preventable emergency department visits, admissions and readmissions. Lowering readmission and ED rates would have a significant impact on the healthcare ecosystem as a whole, including lowering hospital costs and corresponding reductions for payors, such as Medicare. At present, providers lack effective and efficient tools to enable them to monitor and treat patients outside of formal care settings, which is becoming increasingly critical as Medicare and other payors shift from volume-based to outcomes-based reimbursement. This project advanced science in the area of managing patients outside of formal care environments through the use of health information technology (HIT). It also developed knowledge bases in the area of managing patients, including providing a nuanced understanding of their clinical condition. By establishing technical feasibility, the researchers created a strong foundation on which to build more in-depth research into this critical area, which is undergoing profound change as a result of legislative and regulatory actions as well as technical advancements in the areas of EHRs. health information exchange and clinical informatics.
