Towards an Electronic Medical Record for Precision Oncology: Information and Knowledge Management

Paper medical records are still widely used in Italian hospitals and their use contributes to the reduced efficiency of the clinical process. Appropriate standards can improve the functioning of Health Information Technology and contribute to the improvement of quality and patient safety. A global architecture scheme was implemented by harmonising health services as proposed by HL7 to achieve interoperability between distributed and heterogeneous applications and devices belonging to independent organisations. A client application was developed that led to the improvement of the quantity and quality of information that may be relevant for the treatment of patients suffering from colorectal cancer. A tailoring application was designed and developed to meet the needs of medical personnel, especially as regards the management of visits, and the creation of a clinical diary in compliance with the standards currently in use. This work is the basis for an integration of medical records and genomic data that can lead to an improvement in cancer prevention, diagnosis, prognosis and treatment (precision oncology).