According to a story from techcentral.ie, the company OpenApp, which is based in Dublin, Ireland, has a developed a new online system that will allow for “virtual panels” of disease experts from across the EU to work together to diagnose patients with rare diseases. The tool is called the Clinical Patient Management System (CPMS) and it will take advantage of the European Reference Networks which will allow patient data to be shared between medical experts remotely.
Diagnosis is Difficult
One of the most difficult challenges about rare diseases is the fact that many of them can be extremely troublesome to diagnose. Many rare patients are navigating their lives and dealing with symptoms without even knowing what condition is affecting them. The fact is, without an accurate diagnosis, it is impossible to effectively treat someone’s illness. For many rare diseases, delays in diagnosis amount to wasted time during which treatment would be more effective. Some patients may get diagnosed at a stage when it is already to late for their lives to be saved or their symptoms to be halted. The difficulty in diagnosing rare diseases mostly stems from the fact that many of them have vague symptoms that can easily be confused with a more common medical ailment.
About The CPMS
The CPMS could be a significant step for resolving this issue in the EU. The system will integrate a network of 900 medical institutions from across Europe. The platform will allow doctors to share critical information with one another that could be vital for obtaining a diagnosis, such as medical imaging, patient histories, and other clinical details. From there, the doctors can then correspond with each other via instant messaging in order to narrow down the possible diseases, conditions, or disorders that the patient could have.
This is much simpler than asking a sick patient to travel to another city, province, or country in order to be examined in person by another doctor. The fact is that a faster diagnosis will mean that treatment can begin sooner, and in many rare diseases, prompt treatment can make a huge difference. Clearly, the CPMS has the potential to revolutionize diagnosing rare diseases in the EU.