Hope is a beacon of light for anyone facing a cancer diagnosis. And, maintaining that hope through difficult diagnoses, chemotherapy treatment decisions, and extensive treatment cycles is tough for even the strongest and most resilient cancer warriors and oncology staff.

Fortunately, this is where Epic Beacon comes in.

With its emphasis on building personalized treatment plans, managing chemotherapy cycles, and staying up to date on standard oncology protocols, Epic’s Beacon solution offers that ray of light and hope needed to diagnose, stage, and eventually cure cancer.

Read on to learn more about the Epic Beacon solution and its benefits for medical oncologists, oncology nursing staff, and patients alike.

Overview of Epic Software

Epic is a comprehensive medical software that provides various different modules to fit the needs of healthcare organizations of any size, type, or location – including monitoring data management, maintaining organizational efficiency, improving patient engagement, and enhancing remote care options for patients.

Epic offers a wide range of modules that help virtually every department found in doctor’s offices, medical clinics, and hospital systems, such as radiology, oncology, emergency, intensive care unit (ICU), scheduling, billing, and more. The solution not only provides more (and better) functionality for healthcare systems, but it also has built-in integration capabilities that make connections between Epic and other systems more efficient.

What is Epic Beacon?

While Epic does have a long list of modules and capabilities, only one provides the right kind of care, attention, and accuracy needed to manage chemotherapy treatment plans, cancer staging, and other oncology department operations: Epic Beacon.

WHAT DOES IT DO?

Beacon is Epic’s medical oncology module that helps physicians and oncology nursing staff document cancer staging, follow patient safety protocols, and provide better patient treatment plans. It acts as an electronic medical record (EMR) system and is specifically designed to outline and manage cancer treatment plans, improving both the safety and quality of oncology patient care.

HOW DOES IT WORK WITH OTHER SYSTEMS?

The Beacon oncology solution is fully integrated with other Epic systems, including pharmaceutical and electronic medication administration record (MAR) software, to ensure that the correct medications and treatments have been ordered, distributed, and administered (not to mention, making patient treatment easier in the process).

Its improved data management capabilities, personalized treatment plans, and ability to seamlessly integrate with other systems set it apart from other existing oncology EMR systems.

How Does Decision Support Help Patients and Providers?

Integration with other Epic systems can provide the decision support necessary in streamlining clinical data management and providing easier access to precision medicine and insights. Here are a few features of Epic Beacon decision support:

  1. Provides additional support to clinical oncology practices, hospitals, and other healthcare organizations involved in oncology care.
  2. Increases useful data insights (while reducing manual, error-prone data processes).
  3. Suggests treatment plan modifications and updated protocols based on clinical chart data.
  4. Allows patients to control their plans (including setting up medication orders ahead of time).
  5. Gives care teams access to treatment updates and summaries in real-time.
  6. Prepares patients for their transition to survival and life after cancer.

Key Capabilities of Epic Beacon

The Epic Beacon oncology module offers a wide range of features that improve patient care and personalize treatment options. Here are a few of the main capabilities of the solution:

  • Oncology-specific EMR allows for medical records to be exchanged electronically.
  • Integration with pharmacy and MAR modules makes the electronic prescription of medications possible (and more accurate).
  • Improved access to electronic health records can simplify schedule and plan adjustment when changes are made by a patient’s medical team.
  • Clinicians are able to chart each aspect of a patient’s treatment cycle and track important clinical data in a singular system.
  • A unified database manages and stores important approved protocols for treatment plans (including additional support for potential side effect management)
  • Access to the whole patient record increases treatment plan accuracy and improves decision making for patients and their entire oncology team.

Integrating Epic Beacon with Other Modules

Because Epic is a cloud-based software, its department and specialty-specific modules are able to be easily integrated and connected with other Epic modules and even external systems and third-party applications – no hassle needed.

WHY IS INTEGRATION IMPORTANT?

As Epic’s medical oncology module, it’s important that the Epic Beacon module has the functionality needed to seamlessly integrate with systems that control treatment and medication processing, distribution, and administration. This way, patients in the cancer center can guarantee that the medications they are receiving from their pharmacy align with those outlined on their personalized treatment plan and know their clinical care team will continue to provide safe care throughout their cancer journey.

Not only does Epic Beacon’s integration capabilities allow patients to stay up to date with their own medication and prescription schedule, but it also gives clinical staff greater visibility into the full patient record, including comprehensive documentation of medication history and any issues with prescriptions or treatment plan alignment.

Getting Started with Epic Beacon

We know that having a unified system that makes data management, patient record tracking, and overall decision-making processing easier is important. But, implementing a new system or integrating a new application can be tricky.. especially when that process involves a brand new oncology EMR system (like Epic Beacon).

Luckily for you, our team of senior-level Epic consultants have the skills and experience needed to help clinical end users like you implement and maintain your Epic Beacon system with flying colors. They have extensive experience in a variety of Epic modules and have seen every kind of implementation and integration process possible. And, even better, they want to help you.

Ready to integrate Epic Beacon Oncology into your systems?

Our Epic consultants are ready to help you integrate Epic’s Beacon Medical Oncology solution. We can help improve your organization’s processes and efficiency to promote better outcomes!

See How We Can Help

 

How Can We Help?

We’ve included a snapshot of one of our Epic Beacon consultants to give you an idea of what to expect when partnering with Surety Systems.

Surety Senior Epic Beacon Consultant

  • 17 years of Epic experience
  • 15 years of Epic Beacon experience
  • 10 year of Epic Willow experience
  • Project Management, Process Redesign and Workflow Analysis
  • Certified in Epic Beacon, Willow and Medication Orders

Interested in learning more about Epic software? Click here to read our newest Epic article that outlines key features, modules, and capabilities of the system for clinical care providers and patients just like you.

Want to talk about how our consultants can help with your Epic needs? Contact us today.