Digital Check-Ins Help Cancer Patients Avoid Emergency Room Visits

For many people living with cancer, symptoms like pain, anxiety, or insomnia can quickly lead to an emergency room visit. These visits can be financially costly and emotionally draining for patients and their caregivers.

A new study led by Mayo Clinic researchers demonstrates that using digital check-ins and a remote care team can definitely help patients manage symptoms before they escalate into a crisis.

“Our goal was simple but ambitious,” says study lead Andrea Cheville, M.D., professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center.

We wanted to see if automating symptom check-ins and care through the electronic health record could improve patients’ lives without adding to the burden on oncology teams. What we found is that this approach not only eased symptoms like anxiety and depression but also kept thousands of patients out of the hospital. That tells us technology can help us successfully extend the reach and efficacy of care.

Andrea Cheville, Mayo Clinic comprehensive Cancer Center

For Becky Johnson, participating in the Enhanced EHR-Facilitated Cancer Symptom Control Trial (E2C2) meant better sleep – despite the anxiety she felt after being diagnosed with double breast cancer in 2022 at the age of 40.

“I was continually Googling for more details about treatments, prognosis, new terminology, and the experiences of others. And the steroid medications I took for treatment prior to chemo messed with my ability to sleep, to. It got to a point where my body’s norm was to wake in the middle of the night and not fall back asleep, taking a toll on my ability to heal,” Johnson says.