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Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions today launched Decision Path, the newest addition to the Navista™ Tech Solutions (TS) suite of technology solutions, created to help oncology practices lower costs, improve patient care and drive success in transitioning to value-based care.

“Patients are increasingly managing high costs for their cancer care including medications, surgeries and other treatments,” said Amy Valley, PharmD, Vice President, Clinical Strategy and Technology Solutions at Cardinal Health. “Decision Path offers a unique solution because it provides real-time visibility into a patient’s out-of-pocket expenses and helps oncologists to make high-quality treatment choices, while also managing costs and optimizing value-based care performance for the practice.”

According to the National Cancer Institute, cancer is one of the most expensive medical conditions to treat in the United States; its treatment can cause great financial distress – often called financial toxicity – for some cancer patients and their families.

“Cancer patients are 2.5 times more likely to declare bankruptcy, and studies have shown that the stress from that experience can have lasting negative effects on a cancer patient’s health and outcome, long after diagnosis and treatment,” said Valley. “While Decision Path is not a cure-all solution for financial toxicity, it can provide valuable information to help oncologists ease the financial burden on patients.”

Developed by Fuse, Cardinal Health’s innovation engine, Decision Path is a first of its kind solution to be built into the electronic health record (EHR) workflow, allowing oncologists to easily compare cancer treatment options, both by clinical indication and cost, at the point of care. Prior to Decision Path, many systems provided cost data outside of the EHR, requiring more time and effort for the physician and care team to locate the necessary information.

More than 2,000 cancer protocols currently are approved by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and new therapies are rapidly emerging, making it a growing challenge for physicians to quickly and accurately evaluate which treatment option will deliver the best clinical outcome for each patient at the lowest cost. Prices and payer coverage for cancer therapies can vary widely, and, until now, physicians generally did not have easy visibility into treatment costs until after the prescription was written and the patient was on therapy.

Tanya Park, Director, Innovation Solutions at Cardinal Health, said, “With Decision Path, cost estimates and comparisons are immediately available in the EHR workflow, allowing physicians and patients to readily access the crucial information they need for informed decision-making that benefits both the patient and the practice. The cost transparency Decision Path provides can enable oncologists to work with cancer patients to seek optimal treatment choices and improved financial health.”

In addition to Decision Path, Navista™ TS is an integrated suite of tech solutions that empowers community oncology practices to improve patient care and gain financial strength in multiple ways. You can learn more about Decision Path and other Navista™ TS solutions at www.cardinalhealth.com/navista.