Abstract A015: Post-treatment patient-provider communication and follow-up care: Does written patient-provider communication improve timely follow-up care for rural cancer survivors?

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Abstract Purpose: Patient-provider communication is a facilitator for optimizing cancer survivorship care planning. As disparities in rural-urban survivorship rates continue to widen, patient-provider communication regarding post-treatment survivorship care is a potential mechanism to improve survivorship-related outcomes. The current study examines sociodemographic and health predictors of post-treatment patient-provider communication and follow-up care, and associations between written communication and timely follow-up care for rural cancer survivors. Methods: Data was analyzed from post-treatment cancer survivor respondents of the Illinois Rural Cancer Assessment Study. The current study tested associations between sociodemographic variables and health factors on the quality of patient-provider communication and timely post-treatment follow-up care, defined as visits within three months or less of final treatment, and associations between the receipt of written patient-provider communication on timely post-treatment follow-up care. Results: Among 90 rural cancer survivors, respondents with annual incomes less than $50,000 and having a high school diploma or less were more likely to report a high quality of post-treatment patient-provider communication. Post-treatment written communication was reported by 62% of the respondents and 52% reported timely follow-up visits during the first three years of post-treatment care. Patients who reported receiving written patient-provider communication were five times more likely to have timely post-treatment follow-up care after completing active treatment than patients who had not received written patient-provider communication. Conclusions: For rural cancer survivors, written patient-provider communication improved timely follow-up care. This research supports policy and practice that recommends the receipt of a written survivorship care plans. Implementation of written survivorship care recommendations improves timely follow-up visits and has the potential to eliminate cancer survivorship disparities. Citation Format: Marquita W. Lewis-Thames, Leslie R. Carnahan, Aimee S. James, Karriem S. Watson, Yamilé Molina. Post-treatment patient-provider communication and follow-up care: Does written patient-provider communication improve timely follow-up care for rural cancer survivors? [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2019 Sep 20-23; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl_2):Abstract nr A015.