EHR triggers can aid in follow-up care for lung cancer
EHR triggers can identify patients with suspected lung cancer, according to an article published in Radiology.
A “trigger” algorithm in EHR systems can be used to identify patients who may have cancer for whom follow-up screening was delayed.
Researchers designed the trigger as an alert to notify clinicians when a patient with an abnormal lung imaging result did not receive a follow-up diagnostic evaluation in a timely manner. They tested it in a large healthcare facility over a one-year period. In that period, 89,168 patients visited the facility, 24,829 had at least one chest image taken and 538 had findings that radiologists flagged as suspicious. The trigger algorithm identified 131 patients, of whom 75 were found to have a delay in follow-up action, which was confirmed through a manual review of records.
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