Molecular Services and EMR-Laboratory Integration Application (ELIA) for Reducing Leakage and Improving Healthcare Disparities in Cancer Patients
The goal of this observational study is to measure and try to reduce leakage in precision medicine care in the community cancer clinic. The goal of precision medicine is to identify the best possible therapy the the patient based on the biology of the tumor. Leakage is defined as a failure or inefficiency of the system that leads to dropped or lost testing, reporting or action (including drug selection). It has been observed that there are healthcare disparities in the community setting compared to academic medical centers, particularly in the use of precision medicine. The main questions the study aims to answer are: How much leakage occurs in the use of precision medicine in the community setting? Can we reduce leakage by providing access to better tools and services typically found in the academic medical centers? Participants will not be directly impacted and will receive standard of care. Measurements will be made of how often physicians select the appropriate test for patients, and how often they select the most appropriate therapy for their patients before and after the implementation of tools created to reduce leakage. We hope to reduce leakage in with the use of advanced tools and services, and use this study as a model to improve healthcare in the community cancer setting.