OSF HealthCare Interfaces CancerIQ into Epic EHR to Expand Genetics to Primary Care

CHICAGO, Ill. and PEORIA, Ill., Sept. 17, 2019 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- OSF HealthCare, an integrated health care network with locations in Illinois and Michigan, has interfaced CancerIQ software into its Epic electronic health record (EHR) as part of a system-wide population health initiative to reduce cancer disparities and deaths.

To better assess, identify and empower those at elevated risk of cancer, the OSF Innovation team initiated a collaboration with CancerIQ in 2015. The platform started out being used in specialty clinics, including oncology, breast imaging and women's health, and will now be rolled out to primary care practices throughout the system.    

"Expanding our partnership with CancerIQ is a big priority for us because we know it can positively impact a large percentage of the patients we serve," said Rob Jennetten, director, Innovation Partnerships, OSF HealthCare. "By interfacing the software into our electronic health record system, we can accelerate our efforts to transform care across our entire community."

The counties surrounding OSF HealthCare have a high incidence of breast cancer and nearly 20 percent of those patients are diagnosed under age 50. Thus, this initiative is currently focused on identifying women with a genetic predisposition for hereditary breast cancer, which tends to be earlier onset and aggressive.

OSF HealthCare has screened nearly 70,000 patients using CancerIQ's software to date. One in four of these patients were found to have elevated risk for hereditary cancer according to national guidelines.

"We need to meet and engage these patients in the primary care setting, so we can identify genetic predispositions as early as possible and navigate patients to the right preventive services," said Dr. Naresh Agarwal, regional director primary care, OSF HealthCare. "Of all of the U.S. Preventive Task Force recommendations, screening people to identify risk of hereditary cancer is the most important for our patient population. This is where cancer screening in primary care can have a real and immediate impact."

Screening women in primary care settings has been challenging due to rapidly changing guidelines, industry regulations, and lack of time and knowledge. CancerIQ's technology now makes it possible for providers to easily identify, evaluate and manage patients over time based on individual genetic risk factors, all within Epic's workflow.

The software analyzes family history, runs predictive risk models, and automates National Comprehensive Cancer Network Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology. It aids clinicians in comprehensive clinical decision support and ensures patients have tailored patient education resources and prevention plans.

"CancerIQ is leading the way in cancer risk assessment and management," said Steve Lehmann, an IT innovation coordinator at OSF HealthCare. "It offers us something better than we were able to build into our EHR, which is why it was among our top interface priorities for 2019."

OSF HealthCare

OSF HealthCare, headquartered in Peoria, is owned and operated by The Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, and consists of nearly 21,000 employees in 126 locations, including 13 hospitals, 11 Centers for Health and 15 OSF PromptCares throughout Illinois and Michigan.

CancerIQ

CancerIQ's technology enables hospitals to identify, evaluate and manage entire patient populations based on individual genetic risk factors. By analyzing family history, running predictive risk models and automating NCCN guidelines, CancerIQ empowers community-based providers with the genetic expertise to prevent cancer or catch it early. The platform has been rapidly adopted by some of the top health systems in the country and fully integrates with genetics laboratories, EHRs, and specialty software vendors to streamline workflow, guide clinician decision making, achieve cost savings, and — most importantly — improve patient outcomes. Learn more about how CancerIQ is scaling the use of genetic testing to predict, preempt and prevent disease at canceriq.com.

OSF Innovation

OSF Innovation was launched in 2016 and is the overall umbrella initiative for the planning, structure, goals and services OSF HealthCare uses to innovate for the improvement and transformation of health care. More information at http://www.osfinnovation.org/.

SOURCE CancerIQ, Inc.