Foundation Medicine announced a partnership with Epic Thursday, meant to integrate its services like comprehensive genomic profiling with the electronic medical record (EMR) system.
Providers will be able to order Foundation Medicine tests within the Epic network once the integration is complete, as well as access results directly in the EMR platform.
The benefit to this approach, the companies' announcement said, is to have easily accessible information in one place and limit data entry in order to streamline clinical decision-making. The latest incorporation will support oncology practices, academic medical centers and other health systems.
The announcement comes as part of a broader Foundation Medicine effort to expand precision oncology by leveraging data.
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“In order to bring the reality of precision medicine to more cancer patients, we need to simplify the process for getting oncologists access to the genomic insights they need for targeted treatment planning,” said Kathleen Kaa, interim chief commercial officer at Foundation Medicine, in a statement.
For years, physicians have expressed frustration about time-consuming and cumbersome administrative tasks. The key to improving that burden is simplifying processes and maximizing their efficiency. Several healthcare providers have implemented Epic's EMR this year, including Central Texas Community Health Centers and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
Foundation Medicine is also partnering with institutions using other EMR systems to provide custom EMR solutions for those practices.
The EPIC integration is expected to become available in 2022.