Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is launching Solavia Decision Suite, a next-generation oncology decision support platform co-developed with NYU Langone Health that brings Dana-Farber's clinical expertise and evidence-based treatment pathways directly into clinicians' workflows, helping extend specialized cancer treatment guidance to patients beyond the Institute.
The platform is designed to help oncologists navigate increasingly complex treatment decisions by providing context-specific guidance informed by Dana-Farber oncology expertise and based on a patient's disease, stage, prior treatment and other clinical factors. Embedded within the electronic health record, Solavia guides clinicians through a decision-making process and provides supporting evidence and literature citations to inform treatment options.
Solavia addresses a growing challenge in oncology: the pace of new drug discoveries, clinical trial results and regulatory approvals makes it increasingly difficult for clinicians to remain current on the latest treatment options and evidence. Solavia provides a new way to extend Dana-Farber's oncology expertise beyond its own walls, bringing evidence-based treatment pathways into the patient care workflow, when and where treatment decisions are being made.
"Cancer treatment is evolving at an extraordinary pace, and it is increasingly challenging for any individual clinician to keep up with every new development across every disease and treatment setting," said David Jackman, MD, medical director of clinical pathways and new business initiatives at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. "Solavia creates a new way to put Dana-Farber's collective oncology expertise and evidence-based treatment guidance directly into the clinical workflow, helping physicians make informed treatment decisions at the point of care."
Solavia builds on more than a decade of work at Dana-Farber developing oncology treatment pathways, providing clinical guidance that translates the expertise of subspecialists and medical leadership into specific recommendations for patient care. The pathways are continually reviewed and updated by expert Dana-Farber-led committees as new evidence emerges, drawing on regulatory approvals, clinical research results, and the collective clinical acumen of our faculty. The new platform creates a more integrated and scalable way to deliver that expertise, embedding guidance directly within the clinical workflow and expanding its potential reach beyond Dana-Farber.
The platform is intended to complement-not replace-clinical judgment. Clinicians retain responsibility for treatment decisions and can consider individual patient circumstances when determining the most appropriate course of care.
"Ultimately, Solavia is about putting the right information in front of clinicians at the right time, while keeping the patient at the center of every decision," said Jackman. "We want physicians to have confidence that the treatment recommendations they are considering reflect the latest evidence as well as the collective expertise of Dana-Farber's oncology community."
Solavia was co-developed by Dana-Farber and NYU Langone Health, combining Dana-Farber's expertise in oncology treatment pathways with NYU Langone's expertise in health information technology and the development of applications integrated within the Epic electronic health record. NYU Langone launched Solavia internally in June and announced the platform's commercial availability in July.
At Dana-Farber, the platform will be introduced in phases beginning in September. More broadly, Solavia represents a new model for extending specialized oncology expertise beyond the walls of an academic cancer center, using technology to bring evidence-based treatment guidance directly to clinicians and, ultimately, to the patients they serve.
