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Telehealth: Partner in Innovation

By Jennie R. Crews, MD, MMM, FACP

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Jennie R. Crews, MD, MMM, FACP
Vice President and Medical Director, SCCA Community and Network Programs
Seattle Cancer Care Alliance
Associate Clinical Professor, University of Washington School of Medicine
Seattle, WA

Jennie R. Crews, MD, MMM, FACP, is medical director, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Network; Medical Director, Research Integration at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA); and associate professor of Medicine, University of Washington. Dr. Crews has more than 18 years of experience in oncology in academic, private practice, and hospital-based settings. Previously she served as the medical director for Cancer Services in the PeaceHealth Northwest Network, which includes St. Joseph Cancer Center in Bellingham, Washington; PeaceIsland Hospital on San Juan Island, Washington; and PeaceHealth Ketchikan, Alaska. She also served as the medical director of the Marion L. Shepard Cancer Center in Washington, N.C., and held appointments as a consulting associate in the Department of Medicine, Division of Medical Oncology and Transplantation at Duke, and as an affiliate associate professor in the Department of Medicine at East Carolina University.

Dr. Crews served as ACCC Treasurer (2013-2015), ACCC President-Elect (2015-2016), and ACCC President (2016-2017). She has served as the president of the North Carolina Oncology Association (NCOA) and as NCOA’s legislative liaison to the North Carolina General Assembly. She is on the Editorial Committee for the ACCC Oncology Drug Database, a reviewer for the Journal of Oncology Practice, and a member of the ASCO Practice Guidelines Implementation Network. She has been named to the Best Doctors in America since 2007.

Dr. Crews received her BS degree in Biology with highest honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She earned her MD from Duke University and completed training in internal medicine and oncology at Duke, where she served as assistant chief resident. She is a Fellow in the American College of Physicians and is board certified in internal medicine and medical oncology.
November 12, 2018

Immuno-oncology (IO) is not only an innovative treatment modality but also a driver of innovative cancer care delivery, as oncology teams manage the unique needs of IO patients, educate a broader constituency of healthcare providers about IO and potential immune-related adverse events (irAEs), and help patients access the latest IO therapies. Telehealth is a natural innovation partner for IO when applied to patient-reported outcomes (PROs), provider education, and clinical trial enrollment. 

PROs garnered attention at the 2017 ASCO plenary session when Ethan Basch, MD, MSc, presented evidence that PROs improve survival when used to monitor patient symptoms and provide timely intervention.1 At ASCO 2018, Fabrice Denis, MD, PhD, presented data showing improved survival in lung cancer patients who tracked their post-treatment symptoms using PROs.2 However, during the discussion session, speakers acknowledged that current PROs do not capture symptoms specific to IO.

This gap presents an opportunity to explore telehealth solutions that help providers and patients manage IO treatment. While patient portals and smart phone applications are familiar to many patients and healthcare professionals, optimal use of such technology is not fully realized. Currently, cancer programs may use educational materials or ID cards to help raise awareness of IO treatment and irAEs, and to streamline communication between non-oncology providers and the treating oncologist. Others utilize nursing experts who focus on IO patients’ needs. With PRO platforms similar to those Dr. Denis studied, patients regularly “push” symptom information via a web-based system that triggers a response from their care team when a threshold is crossed. An advantage of this monitoring system is a regular cadence that captures worrisome symptoms before they become advanced and encourages patients to actively participate in their care.

A similar PRO system for IO could ask patients about their bowel habits, shortness of breath, or fatigue. With current technology, patients could submit photos of physical findings, such as a rash, for visual evaluation by their care team. Using IO-focused PROs in this way would capture troublesome symptoms earlier and allow busy oncology practices to triage patients who can be managed over the phone versus those who need to be seen in person.

Telehealth is also an exciting solution for provider-to-provider education. Virtual tumor boards are one example used by many health systems. Experts can use telehealth to render second opinions and to aid in side effect management. Using store-and-forward technology allows sharing of records and images with IO experts who can advise general oncologists and other specialists in the management of patients. Finally, telehealth can enhance access to clinical trials by providing patients access to portfolios of IO studies and, ultimately, allowing them to share health information to determine their eligibility without traveling for an appointment.

Certainly, barriers to deploying telehealth in IO remain, however; as barriers are removed, more practices will embrace telehealth.

References

  1. Basch E, et al. JAMA. 2017; 318(2):197–198.
  2. Denis F. ASCO 2018 Abst. 6500.

The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s)/faculty member(s) and do not reflect the official policy or position of their employer(s) or the Association of Community Cancer Centers.