History of eviQ

eviQ origins

In 2004 the Cancer Institute NSW assumed responsibility for an intranet cancer treatment resource that was developed by Professor Robyn Ward and utilised in the South Eastern Sydney Area Health Service. The resource detailed medical oncology and haematology treatment information for medical officers, nurses and pharmacists involved in cancer care. It was created to reduce cancer treatment variation and provide patient information on cancer treatments. The Cancer Institute NSW made the resource available as a website in August 2005 and named it the Cancer Institute's Standard Cancer Treatments Program (CI-SCaT). Due to its popularity and the need for greater functionality and additional content, CI-SCaT was rebuilt and re-branded as eviQ Cancer Treatments Online and was launched in October 2009.

National eviQ program

In March 2012 eviQ began working towards a national eviQ program. Up until this time eviQ had primarily been a NSW focused resource. As registrant numbers and interstate use increased, it became clear a national model for eviQ was necessary to provide a wider pool of clinical expertise for contribution to protocol development and review, and therefore continue to ensure the quality and currency of the eviQ content. By the end of 2013 Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) were in place with every state and territory in Australia. These agreements endorsed eviQ as the preferred source of evidence-based cancer treatment information in Australia. The MOUs also made a commitment to travel and attendance by interstate clinicians at eviQ reference committee meetings for protocol and content development and review. The first eviQ National Advisory Board meeting was held in March 2014. eviQ reference committees now have wide representation from all Australian states and territories.

Growing demand for protocols and patient information saw a second rebuild of the eviQ site which launched in August 2017. 

International eviQ

eviQ has an increasing number of international users. eviQ has been used in 171 countries with approximately 9% of its 84,000 registered users located outside of Australia. Activities to forge closer ties with the international cancer community include: