How the Intelligent Medical Record Could Help Community Oncology

Cancer care continues to evolve, and community oncology providers are supporting patients with increasingly complex needs, including navigating expanding diagnostic and treatment options and managing growing administrative demands. Yet many of the systems they rely on may have outgrown today's environment.

For decades, the electronic medical record (EMR) has served as the digital backbone of care delivery. It captures patient information, stores clinical notes and helps document what happened during a visit. But cancer care doesn’t happen in a single visit or note. It unfolds over time, across tests, treatment decisions, care teams and patient needs.

Envisioning a Different Tomorrow

At McKesson, improving healthcare is about helping patients access better care through connected solutions, actionable insights and stronger clinical decision-making. Ontada's vision for the intelligent medical record (iMR) reflects that commitment by helping community oncology providers navigate growing complexity while keeping the focus where it belongs: on patients.

The idea is not to replace the importance of the medical record. It is to make the record more useful. Instead of functioning mainly as a place where information is stored, an iMR would help create a continuously updated view of the patient’s cancer journey. Diagnosis, biomarkers, testing, treatments, clinical support and care decisions could come together as a clearer, more connected story.

For community oncology practices, that matters. Providers often have to move between systems to find lab results, scan reports, biomarker information, clinical trial options and documentation requirements. Each extra step adds friction. Each disconnected data point creates more work for already busy care teams.

“An iMR could help change that by bringing information closer to the point of care. AI plays an important role in that vision, but not as another separate tool for clinicians to manage,” Helton says. “The goal is not to add another layer of technology, but to reduce the burden, needless complexity and friction that get in the way of care.”

That approach reflects the broader role Ontada plays within McKesson. Ontada connects technology, real-world oncology data, provider education and research capabilities to help community practices deliver high-quality, patient-centered care. As part of McKesson’s Oncology & Multispecialty portfolio, Ontada helps strengthen the connection between real-world clinical practice, research and innovation.

The iMR concept brings that connection to life. Precision medicine insights could be easier to access within the workflow. Potential biomarker gaps could be surfaced for clinician review. Clinical trial considerations could become part of routine care discussions instead of living in separate systems. Over time, the same connected approach could help generate insights that improve care delivery and support a broader learning system across community oncology.

“For community oncology, this is not just a technology shift,” Helton says. “It represents an evolution in how care is delivered, scaled and improved.”

If the future of oncology depends on better connecting data, evidence and daily care, the iMR offers a compelling path forward that helps community oncology providers work smarter while continuing to deliver care close to home.