FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Geisinger awarded funding to implement improved symptom monitoring for patients undergoing cancer treatment

DANVILLE, Pa. – Geisinger has been approved for funding by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to implement electronic monitoring of patients’ self-reported symptoms during cancer treatment. Patients being treated for cancer often have symptoms such as fatigue, pain and nausea. Managing these symptoms, which can stem from both the disease and its treatment, is a key component of high-quality cancer care and can enhance patients’ well-being, decrease visits to the hospital and improve treatment adherence .

Led by H. Lester Kirchner, Ph.D. and Christian Adonizio, M.D., this project will implement Epic’s Electronic Symptom Management (eSyM) module for Geisinger patients receiving systemic chemotherapy, oral chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The work is based on findings from a PCORI-funded patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness (CCE) study demonstrating improved symptom control, physical function, health-related quality of life and overall survival among patients who completed electronic patient-reported outcome surveys, as compared with those who received usual care.

Dr. Kirchner is professor and chair of the Department of Population Health Sciences in Geisinger’s Research Institute. He and Keith Boell, D.O., Geisinger’s chief quality officer, are project leads for Geisinger’s Health Systems Implementation Initiative (HSII) participation. Dr. Adonizio is a medical oncologist/hematologist, professor of medicine Geisinger College of Health Sciences, and the associate fellowship director for Geisinger’s Cancer Institute.

Geisinger was selected to participate in the HSII through a PCORI opportunity recruiting healthcare institutions to promote evidence-based practice based on findings generated from PCORI-funded patient-centered CCE. HSII aims to reduce the estimated 17-year gap between evidence publication and clinical application. This initiative recognizes that health systems’ practical experience and real-world insights are crucial for sustainable, large-scale implementation of practice-changing findings in clinical care.

The funding award has been approved pending completion of PCORI’s business and programmatic review and issuance of a formal award contract.

About Geisinger

Geisinger is among the nation’s leading providers of value-based care, serving 1.2 million people in urban and rural communities across central and northeastern Pennsylvania. Founded in 1915 by philanthropist Abigail Geisinger, the nonprofit system generates more than $8 billion in annual revenues across 163 care sites — including 10 hospital campuses — and Geisinger Health Plan, with more than half a million members in commercial and government plans. Geisinger College of Health Sciences educates more than 5,000 medical professionals annually and is conducting more than 1,400 clinical research studies. With more than 27,000 employees, including 1,800 employed physicians and 5,200 registered nurses, Geisinger is among Pennsylvania’s largest employers, having an estimated economic impact of $16.8 billion on the state’s economy. In 2024, Geisinger joined Risant Health, a nonprofit charitable organization created to expand and accelerate value-based care across the country. Learn more at geisinger.org or follow on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

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