DALLAS – Texas Oncology, one of the largest community-based oncology practices in the U.S., and Navigating Cancer, a leading provider of oncology digital healthcare solutions, today announced significant patient benefits from an extensive deployment of routine electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePRO) coupled with systematic patient navigation. Key findings presented at the 2023 ASCO Quality Care Symposium include a significant reduction in patient hospitalizations, a related reduction in overall cost of care, and fewer deaths.
Debra Patt, M.D., Ph.D, MBA, medical oncologist and executive vice president, public policy, and strategic initiatives, at Texas Oncology, presented highlights of a collaborative study in a poster session titled “Impact of remote symptom monitoring (RSM) with electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePRO) on hospitalization, survival, and cost in community oncology practice.” The session covers the second part of the “Texas Two-Step” study, a two-part (hybrid) implementation-effectiveness evaluation of ePROs. Step one of the study demonstrated the successful implementation of an ePRO system in more than 200 sites of service of a large community oncology practice.
The study found that implementing ePROs improved quality and value of cancer care delivery by reducing hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and deaths, while lowering cost of care in a large oncology practice among patients enrolled in the Oncology Care Model, a value-based care program administered by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. Overall, ePRO monitoring was associated with:
- 39% reduction in hospitalizations.
- $1,146 per member per month average savings.
- 10% percent average rate of savings, with 83% of savings due to reductions in inpatient and physician spend.
“Texas Oncology’s collaboration with Navigating Cancer showed that remote monitoring can enhance cancer patients’ overall care quality while reducing costs — both of which are top priorities for us and our patients as a large community-based practice,” said Dr. Patt. “Reducing adverse outcomes for patients such as avoiding hospitalizations and visits to the emergency room, and reducing cancer deaths, are important outcomes that support our mission to improve locally available cancer care.”
"This research is the culmination of a years-long investment between Texas Oncology and Navigating Cancer in technology-enabled patient navigation,” said Amila Patel, PharmD, chief clinical and strategy officer at Navigating Cancer. “As ePROs become a mainstay in value-based care, this collaboration serves as a model for how technology vendors and provider organizations can work together to successfully implement the routine use of ePROs to deliver a better patient experience, improve outcomes, and reduce costs.”
Abstract Summary:
Impact of remote symptom monitoring (RSM) with electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePRO) on hospitalization, survival, and cost in community oncology practice:
The Texas Two-Step study, Abstract 569
Lead Author: Debra Patt M.D., Ph.D., MBA, medical oncologist and executive vice president, public policy, and strategic initiatives at Texas Oncology
This observational study focused on patients with metastatic cancer undergoing systemic therapy enrolled in OCM at multiple sites of service across Texas Oncology (TXO), a large US statewide community oncology practice, between July 2020 and December 2020. Symptom monitoring was delivered through Navigating Cancer’s (NC) ePRO digital monitoring tool, Health Tracker, and patients who completed ≥ 1 survey via the ePRO tool were included in the study group. Rate of total and individual adverse events (death/hospitalization/ED visit), average hospital/ED visit per patient, average length of hospitalization, total Medicare cost (per member per month, PMPM) were compared between the study group and a matched control group.
About Texas Oncology
With more than 530 physicians and 280 locations, Texas Oncology is an independent private practice, a member of The US Oncology Network, that sees more than 71,000 new cancer patients each year. Founded in 1986, Texas Oncology provides comprehensive, multi-disciplinary care, and includes Texas Center for Proton Therapy, Texas Breast Specialists, Texas Colon & Rectal Specialists, Texas Oncology Surgical Specialists, Texas Urology Specialists and Texas Infusion and Imaging Center. Texas Oncology’s robust community-based clinical trials and research program has contributed to the development of more than 100 FDA-approved cancer therapies. Learn more at TexasOncology.com.
About Navigating Cancer
Navigating Cancer is a digital health company focused on radically reducing the burden of cancer through transformative digital health solutions. Our comprehensive Navigating Care® platform helps providers boost their financial performance, enables more effective remote care management, and delivers a better patient experience while providing valuable insights for oncology innovation. With over 2,000 providers using the Navigating Care platform to care for over 1 million patients, it is the most broadly deployed oncology patient management solution in the US. For more information, please visit www.navigatingcancer.com or follow Navigating Cancer on Twitter @navcancer.