Nutrition information in oncology — extending the electronic patient-record data set

Electronic health records (EHRs) present extensive patient information and may be used as a tool to improve health care. However, the oncology context presents a complex content that increases the difficulties of EHR application. This study aimed at developing openEHR-archetypes representing clinical concepts in cancer nutrition-care, as well as to develop an openEHR-template including the aforementioned archetypes. The study involved the following stages: 1) a thorough literature review, followed by an expert’s (nutrition guideline authors) survey, aiming to identify the main statements of published clinical guidelines on nutrition in cancer patients that were not included on the Clinical Knowledge Manager (CKM) repository; 2) modelling of the archetypes using the Ocean Archetype Software and submission to the CKM repository; 3) creating an example template with Template Designer; and 4) automatic conversion of the openEHR-template into a readily usable EHR using VCIntegrator. The clinical concepts (among 17 clinical concepts not yet available in the CKM repository) chosen for further development were: body composition, diet plan, dietary nutrients, dietary supplements, dietary intake assessment, and Malnutrition Screening Tool (MST). So far, four archetypes were accepted for review in the CKM repository and a template was created and converted into an EHR. This study designed new openEHR-archetypes for nutrition management in cancer patients. These archetypes can be included in EHR. Future studies are needed to assess their applicability in other areas and their practical impact on data quality, system interoperability and, ultimately, on clinical practice and research.