Is survivorship care plan discussion important to patients?

Abstract

e276 Background: The 2015 Commission on Cancer standard requires that cancer survivors receive a personalized survivorship care plan (SCP). There are variations on how this plan is delivered, depending on time and available staff. These can include mailing the SCP, delivering the SCP at the conclusion of a visit, and fully discussing the SCP at a survivorship visit. There is a need to evaluate the growth in patient satisfaction with not only receipt of SCP, but also personalized care and education regarding the SCP and follow up. Methods: A simple, anonymous questionnaire was routinely given, for quality assurance purposes, to cancer patients who had completed treatment in a radiation oncology setting. Patients were given the questionnaire at the conclusion of a survivorship visit, during which they had received an SCP with full discussion and explanation by the nurse practitioner. The questionnaire asks two questions: 1) Did you find the survivorship visit helpful and/or educational? 2) Was it more helpful to have the survivorship summary explained to you in person? These questions could be answered with a “yes” or “no” answer. Results: This data collection is at a preliminary stage. We received 19 completed questionnaires from patients. Of these 19 questionnaires, 18/19 or 95% of responses were “yes” for question 1. For question 2, 18/19 or 95% of responses were “yes.” Conclusions: This information on patient-perceived value of survivorship visits and SCPs is at an early stage, and more responses will be needed to confirm its validity in the future; however, preliminary data show that the majority of patients are finding survivorship summaries to be helpful and educational to them. Patients are also indicating that visits “in person,” with face-to-face explanation of survivorship summaries, are more helpful than receiving a summary without verbal involvement or explanation.