The patient’s journey – working together towards our goal

We are addressing the issue of unsystematic and time-consuming patient preparation prior to the multidisciplinary team (MDT) meeting, as well as the monitoring of patients before and after surgery.

The Patient Journey is a web-based application for oncology care coordinators and for doctors who refer patients to comprehensive cancer centres (KOCs). It tracks the patient from the first point of contact through to further treatment and ensures that no patient is left without the next step.

AI document processing

A doctor or coordinator uploads documents (PDF, photos, Word). AI extracts data from them to create a structured handover report based on a template. Each piece of data includes a link to its source. Clicking on this opens the original document alongside the handover report, with the relevant section highlighted. The handover report is editable. The laboratory section is a clear table showing reference ranges and deviations.

Completeness check

The application checks for the required data from the template as well as examinations specific to the diagnosis (e.g. for pancreatic cancer, a CT scan with a description of the blood vessels and histology). Missing data is highlighted in bold red and colour-coded within the text. The AI also flags inconsistencies between documents, such as conflicting data. For each missing item, the coordinator selects ‘Not required’ or creates a task.

Tasks linked to the patient’s care pathway

The care pathway comprises seven stages: Admission, Diagnosis, MDT, Neoadjuvant therapy, Restaging, Surgery and Further treatment. The coordinator has 25 types of tasks at their disposal, e.g. accepting a request, monitoring a result, scheduling an examination, monitoring the therapeutic window or arranging a surgery date. The task text is generated automatically and can be edited.

Coordinator’s overview

Overdue tasks and tasks for a selected date, daily slots and new documents from doctors. Neoadjuvant therapy with colour-coded statuses and monitoring of the therapeutic window prior to surgery. Calendar with booked slots for examinations (e.g. MRI, PET/CT). Patients can be scheduled into available slots. List of patients with their current stage in the care pathway and next step.

Scheduled examinations

There is a checklist for each visit: patient contacted, appointment booked at the clinic, attendance checked. Each step is recorded with a date; deletion requires confirmation. The document is then uploaded. The status colour of the visit is also visible in the calendar.

Portal for the referring doctor

List of referred patients with status (referred, awaiting results, awaiting MDT, results available, results received). A request from the KOC for further data is highlighted in red, and the doctor responds by uploading the relevant documents. Referring a new patient requires only mandatory details, documents and an optional summary. The doctor receives the MDT conclusion as a PDF and confirms its receipt. The KOC thus has proof of delivery. Email notifications with regular reminders do not contain any medical data.

Further information

Contact details for coordinators and a map of specialist centres. Standardised guidelines for coordinators’ work, including cover arrangements in the event of absence. The application runs independently alongside the hospital system. Outputs can be exported.