Precision Medicine, a disruptive change in the industry
Cancer treatment is evolving fast. It is no longer one-size-fits-all; it is increasingly personalized. Molecular diagnostic techniques identify specific mutations or biomarkers in a patient’s cancer, thereby guiding treatment choices.
Paradigm Shift
The rise of precision medicine is drastically changing the healthcare sector, shifting the focus to data and information. This evolution impacts not just treatment protocols and patients, but also all the stakeholders involved, healthcare resources and healthcare administrations, and the market strategies of pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies.
Information Silos
However, this paradigm shift reveals that diagnostic data is often neither connected nor structured. Information remains locked within hospital systems and industry databases, resulting in “silos” that hinder efficient care.
Digitalization, Connection, and Access to Data
In this evolving landscape, the lack of digitalization, centralization, or integration poses barriers. These inefficiencies impact the patient‘s ability to receive timely and appropriate treatment, potentially affecting their survival.
Not enough digitalization and not accessible, results in:
37%
OF PATIENT DIAGNOSTIC RESULTS ARE LOST
Due to errors in digitization and manual registration processes (1). That’s 37 out of 100 patients who may not receive the right treatment due to human error.
54%
OF ONCOLOGISTS REPORT DIFFICULTIES
In accessing and integrating data from multiple sources (2). More than half of the oncologists are struggling to manage the information they need to provide effective care.
39%
OF THE TIME, ONCOLOGISTS SPEND COLLATING DATA
Compared to only 27% of the time actually spent with the patient (3). This means more time gathering all the information required to treat than attending the person.
1 Global market research analysis by Inflection Point Biomedical Advisors since 2016-2021 in 25 countries.
2 HIMSS Media, Democratizing data for healthcare success, 2019, https://community.useready.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/WP_HIMSS_Democratizing_Healthcare_Data.pdf
3 https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucejapsen/2016/09/06/for-every-hour-with-patients-doctors-spend-two-record-keeping/?sh=4ad9e8b29501keeping/?sh=4ad9e8b29501
For an optimal integrated patient management, there is a need to improve integration, centralization and digitalization of patient's diagnostic data.
Severe impact on patients
DELAY IN DIAGNOSTIC RESULTS
The inefficiencies may increase results turn around time (TAT), and doctors receiving them later than desired to make treatment decisions.
DELAY IN TIME TO TREATMENT
The delay on results reception by the doctors, may casue a delay on the initiation of the optimal targeted treatment, or starting a suboptimal treatment.
IMPACT ON PATIENT SURVIVAL
Ultimately, these delays would have an impact on patient’s outcomes and survival. If the patient does not receive the best treatment on time, it would have consequences.