SAMBLIK-Cancer

Cancer pathways are complex and involve many different healthcare providers across sectors – especially during follow-up after treatment, including rehabilitation, treatment of late effects and palliation.

When encountering the healthcare system, each patient carries information about their own medical history because healthcare providers across sectors cannot share relevant data about the patient’s medical history.

The patients experience their pathway as fragmented and important information may be lost in the transition between sectors og healthcare providers.  

Research shows that well-functioning communication between sectors is necessary to ensure that patients experience their pathway as coherent.

Seamless and targeted sharing of knowledge about the patient’s course of disease, social vulnerability and contacts across providers in general practice, primary care and hospital is necessary to establish coherence. It supports general practitioners in their role as coordinators. A common overview across sectors would make knowledge more accessible and improve the possibility of having relevant professional discussions across sectors. This would save time and improve decision-making for the general practitioners in their capacity as coordinators.

Last – but not least – seamless and targeted sharing of knowledge about the patient’s overall disease burden and potential vulnerabilities would relieve the patient and possibly also the patient’s relatives from being the ‘sole carriers’ of their own medical history.

DCCC has received strategic funding from the Danish Cancer Society to initiate a fast-track innovation process to establish a proof-of-concept for an improved overview of medical knowledge about patients across sectors. The platform SAMBLIK-Cancer will provide a common digital overview and make it possible to share knowledge about patient’s course of disease, social vulnerabilities and appointments/contacts with the healthcare system across general practice, primary care and hospital.   

The SAMBLIK platform was originally developed by Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus in collaboration with the Minister for the Interior and Health of Denmark, Danish Health Data Authority, KiAP (Quality in General Practice) and other relevant partners. Denmark has a long tradition for interdisciplinary, cross-sector collaboration and the platform builds on the Danish healthcare systems common framework for IT architectures. SAMBLIK-Cancer builds on this solid work and ambitious collaboration.

This first version of an improved digital patient overview is targeted at general practice and health professionals in primary care who work with late effects after cancer or have close collaboration on vulnerable citizens in complex pathways. Specific focus will be on the transition into and out of hospital back to general practice and primary care after cancer treatment has ended.