ABSTRACT
Background Advance directives (AD) are an important component of life care planning for patients undergoing treatment for cancer; however, there are few effective interventions to increase AD rates. In this quality improvement project, the authors integrated AD counseling into a novel right info/right care/right patient/right time (4R) sequence of care oncology delivery intervention for breast cancer patients in an integrated health care delivery system. Methods The authors studied two groups of patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer who attended a multidisciplinary clinic and underwent definitive surgery at a single facility. The usual care (UC) cohort (N = 139) received care from October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020. The 4R cohort (N = 141) received care from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2121 that included discussing AD completion with a health educator prior to surgery. The authors used bivariate analyses to assess whether the AD intervention increased AD completion rates and to identify factors influencing AD completion. Results The UC and 4R cohorts were similar in age, gender, race/ethnicity, interpreter need, Elixhauser comorbidity index, National Comprehensive Cancer Network distress score ≥ 5, surgery type, stage, histology, grade, and Estrogen receptor/Progesterone receptor/ human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (ER/PR/HER2) status. AD completion rates prior to surgery were significantly higher for the 4R vs UC cohort (73.8%, 95% confidence interval [CI] [66.5%-81.0%] vs 15.1%, 95% CI [9.2%-21.1%], p < .01) and did not significantly differ by age, race, need for interpreter, or distress scores. Conclusion Incorporation of a health educator discussion into a 4R care sequence plan significantly increased rates of time-sensitive AD completion.
Subject(s)
Breast Neoplasms , Humans , Female , Breast Neoplasms/surgery , Advance Directives/psychology , PatientsABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Delivering cancer care by high-functioning multidisciplinary teams promises to address care fragmentation, which threatens care quality, affects patient outcomes, and strains the oncology workforce. We assessed whether the 4R Oncology model for team-based interdependent care delivery and patient self-management affected team functioning in a large community-based health system. METHODS: 4R was deployed at four locations in breast and lung cancers and assessed along four characteristics of high-functioning teams: recognition as a team internally and externally; commitment to an explicit shared goal; enablement of interdependent work to achieve the goal; and engagement in regular reflection to adapt objectives and processes. RESULTS: We formed an internally and externally recognized team of 24 specialties committed to a shared goal of delivering multidisciplinary care at the optimal time and sequence from a patient-centric viewpoint. The team conducted 40 optimizations of interdependent care (22 for breast, seven for lung, and 11 for both cancers) at four points in the care continuum and established an ongoing teamwork adaptation process. Half of the optimizations entailed low effort, while 30% required high level of effort; 78% resulted in improved process efficiency. CONCLUSION: 4R facilitated development of a large high-functioning team and enabled 40 optimizations of interdependent care along the cancer care continuum in a feasible way. 4R may be an effective approach for fostering high-functioning teams, which could contribute to improving viability of the oncology workforce. Our intervention and taxonomy of results serve as a blueprint for other institutions motivated to strengthen teamwork to improve patient-centered care.
