Designing Dashboards That Make CTCAE Data Actionable

Introduction: Data Without Direction

CTCAE generates vast amounts of structured data, but structure alone does not create insight. Poorly designed dashboards overwhelm users without guiding decisions.

Actionability is the goal.

What Clinicians and Leaders Need to See

Effective dashboards highlight trends, outliers, and change over time. They surface questions worth asking, not just counts.

Examples include rising toxicity clusters for specific regimens or patients whose symptom burden is escalating.

Balancing Detail and Clarity

Dashboards must balance granularity with clarity. Too much detail obscures patterns; too little hides nuance. Role-specific views help align information with responsibility.

Automation as the Data Engine

Automation improves dashboard quality by feeding cleaner, more timely data. This allows near real-time monitoring rather than retrospective review.

Turning Insight Into Action

Dashboards should be tied to actions: protocol review, supportive care changes, or targeted training. When data lead to decisions, dashboards become indispensable.