Internet CareLink for Pediatric Home Chemotherapy

DESCRIPTION (Verbatim from the Applicant's Abstract): We propose Pediatric Cancer CareLink, a prototype Internet support system for home management of childhood leukemia. Our proposed system will specifically help families of children undergoing multiple cycle chemotherapy for acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) manage medications, side effects of treatment, and potential complications in their homes. For example, a daily log of parent-supplied information will assist the care team in recognizing and responding to life threatening situations. Parents will also be able to use CareLink to support practical, informational, and emotional needs associated with ALL care in the home. While many companies and hospitals are working on information systems to reduce medication errors, to our knowledge, no commercially available application exists addressing the unique needs of medication safety when the administration of these pharmaceuticals has shifted into the home. The short-term consequences of chemotherapy often produce cyclic symptoms and complications in the home setting regardless of the administration setting. Failure to recognize significant problems can be devastating. Pediatric Cancer CareLink will provide families a direct, secure Internet care support channel to their cancer care team at a cancer center. This innovative system will empower providers and families to improve care processes and outcomes for children with ALL. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: We believe our technology platform and product model can enable care improvements in conditions/diseases where high costs result from access barriers (physical, convenience, or genographic), information failure, poor coordination of care, maldistribution of provider resources, and uneven quality. In addition to high-risk newborns, we believe that patients with cancer, diabetes, asthma, HIV infection, and many other long term, chronic conditions will benefit from our specialized product model.