Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Philips and AWS: providing access to best practices in cancer patient care

Patients deserve personalized care, but delivering the best health outcomes is challenging since cancer is a complex disease with many possible causes and treatment options. The volume of medical data grows daily and new technologies can support better workflows and insights. Yet, at the same time, patients don’t have equal access to the same quality of care. To help break down these barriers to quality care, Philips and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a world leader in adult and pediatric cancer treatment and research, have teamed up to spur digital innovation in cancer patient care. 

In close collaboration, the two organizations have developed Philips Oncology Pathways, leveraging Dana-Farber’s Clinical Pathways to diagnose patients and effectively select the appropriate treatment options.  The solution provides doctors around the globe with access to first-class treatment recommendations, bringing patients and providers together to choose the optimal path forward for each person. This is enabled by Philips HealthSuite System of Engagement, which leverages Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a powerful tool to collect, store and provide access to clinical data in a secure manner.

The Atlantic Re:think series “Disrupting Within” zooms in on the Dana Farber – Philips collaboration and also tackles the question: “How does a company like Philips use technology to advance their competitive edge?” Philips is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health through innovation and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. So how can digital technologies, such as IoT (Internet of Things) and the cloud, support the company to further advance its ambitions? Atlantic documents that journey in “Disrupting Within: Driving Better Health” as Philips takes on the challenge of healthcare transformation in times of rapid industry change. After all, a legacy isn’t built by standing still.

“The biggest disruption in healthcare isn’t a single new drug – it’s when we truly start combining the different sources of information about a patient and translate that into insights that drive better health outcomes for each individual patient,” said Jeroen Tas, Chief Innovation & Strategy Officer at Philips. “Dana-Farber is one of the best cancer centers in the world. By deploying their clinical pathways on our oncology platform we can significantly extend the reach of their clinical knowledge and expertise. We can enable hospitals around the globe to get access to the best cancer care.”

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is one of the world’s leading centers of cancer research and treatment, reducing the burden of cancer through scientific inquiry, clinical care, education, community engagement and advocacy. With Philips Oncology Pathways powered by Dana-Farber, physicians are empowered to provide personalized and scientifically advanced cancer care for patients. Establishing a foundation of best practices across more than 1,300 medical oncologists in the U.S. and globally with vast scientific and academic cancer center expertise, Oncology Pathways covers 95% of cancer diagnosis, offering clinical decision support to physicians via a patient-centric solution based on the most up-to-date scientific treatment.

“In medicine, and especially in oncology, expertise still matters,” said Dr David Jackman, Medical Director of Clinical Pathways, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “In the fight to conquer cancer, physicians around the U.S. and the globe can feel supported by having access to this level of critical clinical judgment at their fingertips. Furthermore, they add their voice to the ongoing conversations of what we have learned and what comes next.”

Philips Oncology Pathways powered by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute delivers high-quality, evidence-based treatment recommendations and that can serve as an important tool in improving care quality and reducing costs. Based on the captured patient information, the clinician is able to navigate through the pathway options to make clinical decisions and provide a personalized treatment recommendation, including clinical trials, for their patients. You can find out more about the solution in this video.

“Dana-Farber, as a long-established global leader in cancer care and research, in combination with our Philips Oncology solutions, lets us reach clinicians in many markets across the world,” said Louis Culot, General Manager Oncology Informatics at Philips. “Doctors gain from the expertise of this adaptive platform as they care for patients and practices acquire a unique and unprecedented lens into quality of care. Together, Philips and Dana-Farber aim to have a substantial impact in helping doctors and their patients who face this challenging disease.”

Philips Oncology Pathways is developed using the capabilities of Philips HealthSuite, an integrated, modular set of standards-based capabilities built on AWS that support the development of digital health propositions. HealthSuite provides capabilities for IoT (Internet of Things), identity and access management and HIPAA-compliant data management, and enables clinical and operational data to be federated and shared across systems and solutions from Philips and third parties within the healthcare enterprise. HealthSuite leverages this longitudinally federated data in its intelligence, dynamic workflow and user experience capabilities to help healthcare providers to unlock the power of data in their Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) and other systems of record in care pathways, connecting users with data to provide actionable insights.