Impact of automatic, EMR-based result delivery of liquid biopsy results on patient care
Background:
Liquid biopsy, a method that analyzes plasma-based circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA), offers less invasive testing, faster results, and captures disease heterogeneity compared to tissue-based biopsies. While liquid biopsy has high concordance with tissue-based methods and is well-studied, its integration into clinical practice faces challenges, particularly when ordered outside of electronic medical records (EMR). This study aims to evaluate the impact of integrating liquid biopsy results directly into the EMR system.
Methods:
The US Oncology Network implemented automatic results delivery for Guardant360 tests into their EMR platform, iKnowMed, in November 2022. Two patient cohorts from the Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada were compared: a “PRE” cohort (results scanned into EMR) and a “POST” cohort (results automatically delivered into EMR). Each cohort included 40 patients, with data on blood collection, test results, and follow-up visits analyzed.
Discussion:
Implementing EMR-based results delivery significantly reduced the time for test results to be accessible, enhancing clinical decision-making timeliness. The improvement is attributed to the new workflow rather than differences in test turnaround times or patient demographics. Additional benefits include better result interpretation, easier result identification, and fewer errors. These findings suggest that wider implementation could improve the timeliness of oncologic care for larger patient populations. Further studies are recommended to validate these results across different settings and EMR systems.
