Technology Exchange for Cancer Health Network (TECH-Net)

The Technology Exchange for Cancer Health Network (TECH-Net) was a collaborative, multi-state effort to implement a systematic care program to improve cancer management in the rural communities of west Tennessee, north Mississippi and east Arkansas. This health information technology (health IT) project builded upon a two-pronged approach to total clinical decision support. The first component provided access to oncology, hematology, and other specialists through the dedicated telehealth network of the University of Tennessee's Health Science Center (UTHSC). The second component involved a distributed electronic health record (EHR) integrated with decision support systems, online management of cancer protocols, electronic orders, and medication management systems. The primary goal of the project was to determine the extent to which a multi-state health IT collaborative network can contribute to measurable and sustainable improvements in the cost, safety, and overall quality of cancer care for a region. The specific aims of the project focused on the implementation of technology, personnel, and workflows, the impact Tech-NET has on patient care, and the dissemination of findings to other programs interested in developing similar services: Specific Aim #1: Implement a collaborative, multi-state Health Information Technology System that meets the needs of patients, families and providers in a rural cancer care setting. Specific Aim #2: Improve access to appropriate care, increase the quality and safety of care and achieve better health outcomes at equal or lower cost for cancer patients in rural communities through an integrated Health Information Technology System. Specific Aim #3: Produce and distribute a generalizable, replicable mode/for implementing an integrated Health Information Technology System for cancer care. TECH-Net linked eight separate cancer outreach clinics in a tri-state area with the specialists and researchers of UTHSC and with a major tertiary care hospital of Methodist Healthcare for comprehensive care and communications across the spectrum of adult cancer care. Implementation of this telehealth and EHR program took a phased approach, sequentially building clinical decision support into existing workflows. Evaluation examined qualitative and quantitative data to measure the success of TECH-Net's implementation and determined the impact on patient safety, cost, access to care and overall patient outcomes.