title: Evaluation of the use of decision-support software in carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA)-based follow-up of patients with colorectal cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The present paper is a first evaluation of the use of "CEAwatch", a clinical support software system for surgeons for the follow-up of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. This system gathers Carcino-Embryonic Antigen (CEA) values and automatically returns a recommendation based on the latest values.
  
  
  METHODS
  Consecutive patients receiving follow-up care for CRC fulfilling our in- and exclusion criteria were identified to participate in this study. From August 2008, when the software was introduced, patients were asked to undergo the software-supported follow-up. Safety of the follow-up, experiences of working with the software, and technical issues were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  245 patients were identified. The software-supported group contained 184 patients; the control group contained 61 patients. The software was safe in finding the same amount of recurrent disease with fewer outpatient visits, and revealed few technical problems. Clinicians experienced a decrease in follow-up workload of up to 50% with high adherence to the follow-up scheme.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CEAwatch is an efficient software tool helping clinicians working with large numbers of follow-up patients. The number of outpatient visits can safely be reduced, thus significantly decreasing workload for clinicians.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, PO Box 30001, 9700 RB Groningen, the Netherlands. c.j.verberne@umcg.nl
authors.forename: Charlotte J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Verberne
authors.forename: Cornelis H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Nijboer
authors.forename: Geertruida H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: de Bock
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Grossmann
authors.forename: Theo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wiggers
authors.forename: Klaas
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Havenga
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000032:analysis*; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D020000:Decision Support Systems, Clinical / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis / Q000175:diagnosis; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D012016:Reference Values; D012984:Software
chemical_list: D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen