Prof. Van Cleave awarded Oncology Nursing Society and Johnson & Johnson Nurses Innovate QuickFire Challenge in Oncology Care
June 01, 2020
Janet Van Cleave, PhD, RN, AOCNP, assistant professor at NYU Meyers, has been selected as an awardee of the Johnson & Johnson Nurses Innovate QuickFire Challenge in Oncology for her development of a digital health platform to capture patient-reported symptoms during and after cancer treatment.
The challenge — a collaboration between the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) and Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS — was designed with the goal of accelerating innovation in oncology care, including prevention, early detection, treatment, and care for cancer survivors. Van Cleave was one of two nurse innovators to receive the award; they each will receive $50,000 in grant funding and access to mentoring and coaching from the Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS ecosystem.
Van Cleave received this honor for her development of the Electronic Patient Visit Assessment (ePVA)©, a web-based clinical support tool for capturing patient-reported symptoms of cancer treatment. The ePVA aims to help a patient and their care team communicate in real-time to surface oncology symptoms affecting treatment tolerance, enable the patient to complete cancer therapy on time, and capture vital patient data to improve care delivery.
“Patients and their oncologists often use emails, phone calls and additional visits to address symptoms — a lengthy process that can create burdens for both patients and their providers, especially during this time of COVID-19. I knew there was an incredible need for a tool that could allow our oncology patients to report their symptoms remotely and in real-time to help improve quality of life for our patients and our team’s ability to deliver high-quality patient care,” said Van Cleave.
The ePVA has taken on new significance in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, as more and more patients are being seen through telehealth appointments. Even at a distance, the ePVA provides clinicians with a comprehensive overview of a patient during a time when they are going to the clinic less frequently for in-person visits.