Oncology EMR Software for Oncologists

June 24, 2010 - PRLog -- EMR Software for Oncology Physicians

Overview
Oncology physicians typically see patients who have already received a diagnosis of cancer. The oncologist develops and executes a treatment plan for patients and then monitors their progress. There are several challenges in implementing an EMR for oncology as the diagnostic methods, therapy, follow-up and care can vary greatly. Further, oncologists may sub-specialize, e.g. pediatric oncology, gynecological oncology, etc. Several therapies can be empirical and drugs being administered can be experimental in nature.

Software
NewCreationIT provides oncologists with an EMR Software solution that works best for their practice in terms of cost, accessibility, features and long-term goals. We leverage robust open source healthcare information systems with all key features required for practice management, patient registration, scheduling, medical billing, medical records, medications, prescriptions, laboratory, orders, reports, etc. This ensures that cost is kept low and there are no recurring license fees.

Some of the key variations that we keep in mind when customizing an oncology EMR system include:

Reports from multiple diagnostic methods
•   Biopsy, either incisional or excisional
•   Endoscopy, either upper or lower gastrointestinal, bronchoscopy, or nasendoscopy
•   X-rays, CT scanning, MRI scanning, ultrasound and other radiological techniques
•   Nuclear medicine reports
•   Blood tests, including Tumor markers

Empirical therapy
Empirical therapy may be given in situations without an exact diagnosis, based on the available evidence (e.g. history, x-rays and scans.). In situations where "carcinoma of unknown primary" is reported here again, treatment is empirical based on past experience of the most likely origin.

Treatment Management
•   Radiation Therapy Treatment
•   Chemotherapy/Biotherapy Treatment
•   Surgery
•   Follow-up Care after successful treatment
•   Palliative Care of patients with terminal malignancies
For each type of treatment we need to have specific Ordering Systems, Dosing functions, Safety guardrails and Supporting medications.

Oncology Specific Templates
•   Flow sheets
•   Medical Records (Date of diagnosis, Initial Staging, Current stage, Physical findings, Relevant procedures notes: admit note, operative notes, procedure notes, chemotherapy record, discharge notes these are part of general medical, record, Pain assessment, Graphic, photos and sketch handling, Radiation reports, Pathology reports, Consents, End of life documentation)

Automated Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS)
•   Staging guidelines
•   CTCAE toxicity guidelines
•   NCCN guidelines, regimens & compendium
•   Chemotherapy/biotherapy drug guidelines for individual drugs
•   ASCO guidelines and tools
•   Pain management – scales, guidelines, resources
•   Anti-emetic guidelines
•   Ability to incorporate institutional specific SOP’s/guidelines/workflows
•   Template based tools for encounters and visits
•   Analysis of the feasibility of an institution/practice to meet a clinical trials’ accrual goals – system generated report of a sites patient’s demographics profile for matching eligibility requirements for a given trial
•   Clinical trial matching – system generated notification when a patient is eligible for a trial and an abbreviated summary of the trial to share with the patient

Clinical Trial Protocols
•   Link to Clinical Trial Protocol

Configuration
NewCreationIT provides the software configuration that you are comfortable with and which works best for your oncology practice. These options include:
1. Client-server: The EMR software is installed within your oncology practice and on your computers.
2. Hosted Client-server:  We host the server in the client server system in a secure data center and physicians and staff within your oncology practice accesses the system using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) over the Internet.
3. EMR in the Cloud, Web-based, Fully Hosted:  We also offer fully web-based, multi-tiered EMR software and your staff accesses the software using a web-browser over the Internet. This is commonly referred to as Cloud Computing.

Customization
We provide a fully customized EMR and EHR software for your oncology practice. Unlimited clinical and administrative forms can be created with custom fields and data elements to suit the way you like to work. You can indicate what features you want or do not want to have: drug-drug interaction, allergy, dose and drug effect checking. The prescriptions wizard enables quick prescriptions with dose and dispensing instructions. Any number of Lab tests and Lab orders can be set up. Billing allows manual charges to be recorded for patients. Reports can be developed according to the needs of the medical center or practice.

Why Customized Software?
Simply put "one size does not fit all"! You run your practice the way you like it. You have your own forms and data that you like to gather. Your personal touch and the way you do things is what differentiates you. So why give this up to fit into a mold that is forced on you. Most off-the-shelf commercial software offer highly complex products which are mostly underused or not properly applied in clinical practice. You end up paying for a lot of features you do not need or are not exactly the way you want them.

What about hosted, ready-to-run software?
Not something to consider unless you are willing to give up on your key differentiators and settle to fit the mold.  Further, data extraction for analysis and customized reporting to facilitate practice based research and process improvements are either not possible or will be difficult to do when your data is outside your reach. NewCreationIT hosts your solution just for you. The software, along with the entire database is secure and is available anytime for your practice.

Standards & Certification
We follow industry standards to ensure HIPAA compliance, data set standards (HL7 Version 3.x, HL7 EHR), use of CPT and ICD-10 coding, and ANSI X12 standards for electronic data interchange (EDI). Depending on your region, medical billing software components, claims processing and ePrescription (eRx) will be customized as required.

Cost
NewCreationIT will work with oncology physicians and oncology practices to customize and deploy the oncology EMR solution for their medical practice at very low costs. Since we use open-source software practices will have to only pay for the services involved in customization and deployment. There are no ongoing licensing fees, etc.

For a oncology EMR/EHR software implementation plan and cost, please contact us at: business@newcreationit.com

NewCreationIT is a leading provider of technology solutions that transform both the clinical and financial aspects of healthcare delivery. NewCreationIT leverages its software development center in Bangalore, India to deliver world-class, custom solutions for medical practices, at amazingly low costs. To learn more about our company, our services and how we can assist your business, please contact us: business@newcreationit.com

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NewCreationIT.com specializes in the design, implementation, deployment and support of electronic health records (EHR), EMR Software and medical practice management software for individual physicians, speciality centers, large hospitals & small clinics.