Clinical Practice Network

Abstract – Clinical Practice Network The Clinical Practice Network is the vehicle that will facilitate clinical intervention and data collection for the Scalable TELeheaLth Cancer CARe (STELLAR) Center’s research program and then translate study findings into comprehensive cancer care. The Center’s research program can be seen as filling gaps in knowledge

about how to optimize the cancer care sociotechnical system to deliver telehealth treatment for obesity, physical inactivity, and tobacco use in cancer patients and cancer survivors in a manner that maximizes cancer care access, quality, patient-clinician communication, and cancer treatment outcomes. The network will

leverage the same clinical practice network that we established for the population-based Lurie Cancer Center Tobacco Cessation Program, which has been part of the NCI Cancer Center Cessation Initiative (C3I) since 2018. Our practice network will comprise 11 hospitals across the 4 Northwestern Medicine (NM) Regions

(Central, North, Northwest, West). NM’s 52 oncology clinics are fully integrated by a single telehealth infrastructure (Doximity), a single EHR-system (Epic), and a single, comprehensive, and integrhoated repository of all clinical and research data (Enterprise Data Warehouse). The Clinical Practice Network

will implement and maintain the Center’s electronic and clinical infrastructure in close collaboration with the Administrative and Research and Methods Core and with administrators, quality leaders, oncology clinical and operations leads, and nurse navigators across NM. The Clinical Practice Network will include two working

groups to facilitate the implementation of STELLAR’s telehealth research program. The technical aspect of this optimization will be carried out by the Infrastructure Workflow Team that will align Epic, the patient portal (MyChart), and the wearable and app components of the system to support seamless integration of

technologies needed for STELLAR. The human aspect of the optimization will be carried out by a Stakeholder/Clinical Workflow Team that will align treatment of cancer risk behaviors seamlessly into existing workflows for cancer care delivery. Guided by the Policy Advisory Group and Internal Advisory Board, the

Clinical Practice Network will mount STELLAR Center’s Pilot Studies and Pragmatic Clinical Trial. These will, in turn, provide a robust evidence base to drive the translation and the integration of sustainable telehealth treatment of cancer risk behaviors across NM.