Comprehensive Summary
Tookman et al. surveyed 92 U.K. gynecological oncology clinicians (oncologists, nurses, radiologists) to evaluate how electronic health records (EHRs) affect workflow and decision-making. Many clinicians reported needing to access multiple EHR systems per patient, with one-third using five or more. Some estimated spending over half of their clinical time searching for information. Key barriers included poor system interoperability, difficulty locating genomic test results, and limited consolidated overviews. In response, the team co-designed a prototype digital platform that integrates structured and unstructured data—using NLP to extract key details from free text—into a unified patient summary.
Outcomes and Implications
The findings underscore how fragmented EHR systems can consume valuable time and may compromise coordination in cancer care, where rapid decision-making is essential. Redundant searches across poorly-linked platforms also add to clinician burden and increase the risk of overlooking crucial patient data. The proposed integrated platform offers a possible solution by simplifying access to comprehensive patient information. If scaled and integrated across health systems, this tool and others like it could support faster care planning, reduce clinician workload, and improve the quality of oncology services. Wider adoption, however, will depend on overcoming technical integration challenges and ensuring that systems are designed around the needs of end users.