Digital Support Platform IO Loop Keeps Oncologists and Patients Engaged Throughout Treatment
A new digital support platform, IO Loop, is helping patients stay connected online with doctors before, during, and after treatment. This helps patients track symptoms, allows for more personalized care, and enables more timely intervention by healthcare providers, according to those who have used the service.
Results of a pilot study that tested the use of IO Loop with TheraSphere, a liver cancer treatment, will be presented at the World Conference on Interventional Oncology (WCIO 2017) in Boston, June 8-11.
IO Loop, a collaboration between healthcare company BTG and cloud-based platform HealthLoop, provides firsthand patient-reported outcomes to the corresponding healthcare team, helping physicians meet new requirements of the Medicare Access and CHIP Authorization Act (MACRA), which is designed to incentivize high–quality, cost–efficient care.
The online service is based on the principle that web-connected engagement can potentially reduce the burden for physicians by delivering the right information when it’s most needed.
The service informs patients about how to prepare for treatment, tracks and reports symptoms, and reviews key information to provide a personalized follow-up experience that leads to a more adaptive care plan.
“Through IO Loop, the first service of its kind in interventional oncology, automated collection of patient information, improved patient outcomes, and potentially enhanced patient experiences can have unique benefits for healthcare providers and help them to meet the reporting requirements of MACRA,” Lisa Hayden, BTG’s vice president of global reimbursement, said in a press release.
“At Northwestern we have experienced the benefits of the IO Loop service firsthand. Having ongoing access to the patient’s performance has enabled timely intervention, which in turn has minimized complications and reduced the likelihood of re-admission,” said Karen Grace, clinical nurse coordinator of interventional oncology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
“This not only improves the quality of life of our patients but also enables us, as healthcare providers, to deliver a higher standard of care,” she added.
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