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How EMIS is working with Macmillan to improve cancer patient care
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Although the incidence of cancer is rising, with 1 in 2 people now predicted to develop cancer at some point in their lives, improvements in diagnosis and treatment mean that more people are living longer after a cancer diagnosis, with average 10-year survival now being over 50%.
When it comes to survival rates, however, the UK still lags behind other European countries, with early diagnosis being flagged as a major factor. A significant proportion of survivors experience a wide range of ongoing distressing problems due to the treatment they receive for their cancer. The consequences of treatment can include physical and psychological effects such as chronic fatigue, sexual difficulties, mental health problems, pain and urinary or gastrointestinal problems. Certain cancer treatments also increase the risk of other serious long-term conditions such as heart disease, osteoporosis or a second primary cancer. There is also the potential impact that illness and treatment can have on a patient’s day-to-day life, their social wellbeing and financial situation. With all these concerns, it’s vital that support is provided to help patients cope with the potential consequences of any treatment they receive.
To help support the improvement of cancer care, we at EMIS [now Optum] have worked closely with Macmillan Cancer Support to develop a number of electronic tools and resources for healthcare professionals.
In 2017 Macmillan approached us with a request for us to digitalise their Cancer Care Review (CCR) care pathway. This care pathway provides resources and information for primary care professionals to identify, manage and support their patient’s cancer treatments. As a result of EMIS developing the first iteration of the pathway, Macmillan was then able to replicate this in other core clinical systems and additional platforms that have since become available. This resulted in Macmillan’s Cancer Care Review pathway being adopted in national Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) guidance.
Sophia Nicola, Head of Clinical Engagement for Macmillan said: “This partnership and EMIS’ willingness, expertise and agility as an organisation to work with us to develop solutions for EMIS users has been a huge influencing lever, allowing us to be able to build on these developments with other providers and to influence key stakeholders.
"While working with EMIS, we’ve been able to innovate, test ideas and implement real changes, which has allowed us to scale interventions to reach more people living with cancer.
This means that because of us leading the way in partnership, people living with cancer will now have access to tools and resources that enable them to have a good quality conversation about what matters to them, which moves beyond the clinical and looks at emotional, practical and financial concerns they may have.
Receiving feedback like this makes the job we do all the more worthwhile, knowing we’re leading the way in improving healthcare and setting the tone for other system suppliers to follow.
From this foundation we’ve worked with Macmillan over the past five years to enhance and implement information and support through our clinical resources; for example, a new direct referral form means that when people living with cancer are having conversations with their primary care professional, they can be referred directly to the right Macmillan support team to enable them to get the information and support they need.
Our suite of CCR and End of Life Care Quality Improvement reports can help clinicians review rates of screening uptake, referrals for suspected cancer and completed cancer care reviews, among many other crucial primary care activities. We also provide searches relating to the provision of information about cancer support services.
More information about how Macmillan are supporting quality improvement in end of life care is available here and information on the Macmillan cancer tools available within our EMIS Web® clinical system are available here.