Improving access and timeliness of care for veterans with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: A multidisciplinary team's approach

Abstract

With the prevalence of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) nearly twice as high in veterans (6%) than general populations (3%), the noted problems of long waits and access to care in United States Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals across the country are pressing. We examined primary outcome measures of timeliness and access to care for our patients with HNSCC assessing a multidisciplinary team approach at our VA hospital. Retrospective chart review. Our patients newly diagnosed with HNSCC were identified from two 24-month periods: diagnosis before (group 1, 2005-2006) and after (group 2, 2008-2009) implementing our multidisciplinary team in 2007. No significant differences in age (P = .13) or disease stage (P = .18) occurred between groups. Primary and secondary outcomes (i.e., treatment modality, imaging, completion of treatment, survival) were compared. Timeliness to care improved for all measures. Improvement was significant for times from consult placed to seen in clinic (27.5-16.5 days; P < 0.0001) and from positive biopsy reported to date of initiating definitive treatment (35-27 days; P = 0.04). Pretreatment consults to various services represented by the multidisciplinary team increased from one to four (P < 0.0001). Two-year mortality was approximately the same between group 1 (33%) and group 2 (36%) (P = 0.035). Five-year mortality was slightly better in group 2 (50%) versus group 1 (61%), although not statistically significant. Our veteran population with HNSCC had improved timeliness and access to care with our multidisciplinary approach. 4. Laryngoscope, 126:627-631, 2016.