MultiCare Partners with IllumiCare to Offer Clinical Trials at Point-of-Care with Trials App

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Dec 08, 2022, 09:00 ET

MultiCare Health System is the first to use the app in a clinical setting, streamlining clinical trial recruitment and increasing awareness among providers, patients and clinical research teams.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Dec. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- IllumiCare, a pioneer in point-of-care healthcare information technology, has partnered with MultiCare Health System to allow providers to recommend clinical trials as a therapeutic option at the point-of-care using its Trials App on the Smart Ribbon^®. MultiCare is a not-for-profit healthcare organization with 11 hospitals in the state of Washington and has provided access to clinical trials through the MultiCare Institute for Research & Innovation for nearly 40 years. This is the first time the Trials App has been deployed in a clinical setting.

"Our research team is dedicated to delivering high-quality care for our patients by providing access to local, cutting-edge research and clinical trials," said Annie Reedy, CRA, MBA, MultiCare's Chief Research & Education Officer. "The introduction of IllumiCare's Trials App has been a game-changer for our clinical teams to streamline trial recruitment and ultimately improve the well-being of our patients across our region."

IllumiCare's Smart Ribbon is a non-intrusive ribbon of information that floats above the electronic health record (EHR) at the point-of-care, nudging providers on different actions and information from more than 20 apps. The Trials App nudges providers in real time if the patient they are seeing meets the referral criteria for an institutional clinical trial, as established by the local research team. It's the only technology that directly connects patients to trial coordinators for follow-up and tracks a patient's journey within the recruitment and trial process, enabled by one simple click.

MultiCare has introduced the Trials App to its oncology and pediatric providers, with plans to roll it out across other specialties next. It can be difficult for providers to stay updated on the hundreds of different trials happening at institutions like MultiCare. The Trials App eases that burden on providers by offering backend support, allowing them to focus on the best treatment plan during the patient visit and be automatically alerted when a trial is a good fit.

"We are always looking for ways to improve care delivery and reduce the burden on our providers, and IllumiCare is a key partner in making that happen," said Ethan Tseng, Associate Chief Medical Information Officer at MultiCare. "The Trials App will play a key role in supporting our staff, patients and community."

Since going live in the last few weeks, providers are engaging with the app in their workflow and referring patients to MultiCare's Research Institute teams for follow-up.

"If a local clinical trial is a care option for the patient, we want the provider to know they have another arrow in their therapeutic quiver," said G.T. LaBorde, CEO of IllumiCare. "We think the best source of advice patients can get about clinical trials is from their doctor; sparking that conversation and enabling that shared decision is our goal."

MultiCare also leverages IllumiCare's Stewardship App, a clinical cost transparency tool for medication, lab tests, and more, suggesting lower-cost alternatives to providers without disrupting workflow.

The Trials App is available on IllumiCare's Smart Ribbon^®. For more information, visit https://illumicare.com/trials-app/.

To learn more about MultiCare, click here.

About IllumiCare

IllumiCare was founded in 2014 in Birmingham, Ala., by a visionary physician and a team of healthcare IT experts who have helped clinicians at 250+ health facilities become better cost stewards, by promoting a cost-efficiency mindset at the point-of-care. With deep experience in the clinical, financial, and technical aspects of hospital operations, IllumiCare created the Smart Ribbon^®, which combines actionable clinical and financial intelligence in a platform that has a very light technical footprint, features more than 20 purpose-built apps, and does not disrupt a physician's workflow. To learn more visit, www.illumicare.com.

About MultiCare

MultiCare is a not-for-profit healthcare organization with more than 20,000 team members, including employees, providers and volunteers. MultiCare has been caring for our community for well over a century, since the founding of Tacoma's first hospital, and today is the largest community-based, locally governed health system in the state of Washington.

MultiCare's comprehensive system of health includes numerous primary care, urgent care and specialty services — including MultiCare Indigo Health, Pulse Heart Institute and MultiCare Rockwood Clinic, the largest multispecialty clinic in the Inland Northwest region.

MultiCare's network of care includes 11 hospitals: