New study shows Elsevier’s ClinicalPath can help support oncologists to improve outcomes for oncology patients and manage the cost of care

Research undertaken by Cone Health, a private not-for-profit integrated healthcare network, has shown how Elsevier’s ClinicalPath helps supported their oncologists to improve the outcomes of oncology patients while managing the cost of care.  The analysis was compiled in an abstract¹ submitted to and accepted by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) for presentation at their 2023 annual conference.

Cone Health comprises of five hospitals and several ambulatory care centers, outpatient surgery centers, physician practices, a retirement community and urgent care centers. The healthcare network is also home to the Cone Health Cancer Center, which provides comprehensive cancer care spanning six cancer centers with more than thirty cancer specialists across the Cone Health Network.

ClinicalPath, an evidence-based oncology decision support tool, presents treatment guidance within the clinical workflow.  Cone Health Cancer Center began using ClinicalPath in 2016 to support their clinicians with the tools needed to make consistent, well-informed decisions for high-quality care.

The study looked at outcomes and costs for patients treated between 2017 and 2022 and compared the 1,819 diagnosed and staged cases of cancer for where the ClinicalPath treatment recommendations were followed to the 4,095 cases for which the recommendations were either not used or not followed through to completion.  Of those cases, 509 cases were matched across both experimental conditions by year of diagnosis, site of cancer, clinical stage, goal of treatment and other co-morbidities to ensure case matches were comparable.

The research team documented patient survival rates as well as the variable direct costs of care for each patient in the study.  The ASCO poster session 打開新的分頁／視窗 detailed their findings. When clinicians used ClinicalPath to provide decision support, the researchers found that patients documented as on-pathway in ClinicalPath were half as likely to die within three, six or 12 months compared to cases when ClinicalPath was not consulted at all or was only partially leveragedⁱ.  In addition, though the direct variable cost of care went up when clinicians followed the recommendations provided by ClinicalPath due to drugs and other treatments prompted by the pathway, the use of evidence-based guidelines in ClinicalPath was associated with a positive influence on reimbursement – on average, the contribution margin increased by 74% when oncologists used ClinicalPath¹.

The research was led by Monica Schmidt, MPH, PhD, Executive Director of Health Economics and Health Equity Analytics at Cone Health.  Dr. Schmidt said: “We hypothesized that we would see improved short-term outcomes for patients.  We were pleased that from the time patients received their first treatment for their cancer, they were more likely to survive all the way through 12 months if their oncologist managed care with decision support from ClinicalPath pathways.”

Josh Schoeller, President of Clinical Solutions at Elsevier said: “We are very proud of ClinicalPath and love to hear from customers who are improving patient outcomes by leveraging our solutions.  Alongside the need to support oncologists and other clinicians to improve patient outcomes, we are sensitive to the financial pressures facing administrators as costs across healthcare continue to rise.  The value of Cone Health’s research is the demonstration that better care and lower costs aren’t mutually exclusive – we are delighted to have been able to partner with them to support their teams to improve outcomes while managing costs.”

The research was presented at the ASCO 2023 Conference which took place in Chicago from June 2-6. You can download a copy of the full study here 打開新的分頁／視窗.

¹ Schmidt, M. 2023. The impact of using Elsevier ClinicalPath oncology treatment pathways on survival and cost of care. [Poster].ASCO Annual Conference, 2-6 June, McCormick Place. Available from: https://meetings.asco.org/abstracts-presentations/221866 打開新的分頁／視窗

---

About ClinicalPath

ClinicalPath (formerly Via Oncology) provides industry-leading oncology pathways used by health systems, academic medical centers, and private practices across the US and globally. Designed to help reduce variability in care and support clinicians to achieve optimal patient outcomes, ClinicalPath is delivered at the point of care, using a workflow-embedded decision support tool and advanced EHR integration. ClinicalPath’s treatment recommendations are prioritized based on efficacy, toxicity and cost by a nationwide committee of oncologists.

關於 Elsevier

身為科學資訊與分析的全球領導者，Elsevier 協助研究人員與醫療照護專業人員推動科學發展，改善醫療成果，造福社會。我們以可信賴、以實證為基礎的內容和先進的 AI 數位技術為基礎，透過創新的解決方案促進洞察力和關鍵決策。

140 多年來，我們一直為研究和醫療保健界的工作提供支援。我們全球 9,500 名員工，包括 2,500 名技術人員，致力於支援研究人員、圖書館館長、學術領袖、資金提供者、政府、研發密集型公司、醫生、護士、未來醫療保健專業人員和教育工作者的重要工作。我們的 2,900 種科學期刊和經典參考工具書包括其領域中最重要的書籍，包括 Cell Press、The Lancet 和 Gray's Anatomy。 我們與愛思唯爾基金會 (Elsevier Foundation 打開新的分頁／視窗) 合作，與我們服務的社群攜手合作，在發展中國家和世界各地的科學、研究和醫療保健領域推動包容性和多樣性。 Elsevier 是 RELX 打開新的分頁／視窗 的一部分，RELX 打開新的分頁／視窗 是一家為專業和商業客戶提供以資訊為基礎的分析和決策工具的全球供應商。有關我們的工作、數位解決方案和內容的更多資訊，請造訪 www.elsevier.com 。