Prospective quality review of breast care navigation and treatment: Fox Chase Cancer Center Partners’ (FCCCP) initiative.

Abstract

85 Background: There is increasing emphasis on quality metrics and process improvement for breast cancer treatment. FCCC designed a study to measure compliance with NCCN breast cancer guidelines at 11 FCCCP institutions. Methods: A relational data base was created to track indicators for operational timing, access, treatment modalities, and variance data in a population of breast cancer patients diagnosed and receiving first course of treatment at participating FCCCP institutions for 2009 calendar year. Pilot was conducted to ensure integrity of data collection tool in the previous year. Activation workshop, quarterly on site quality monitoring plan, real time quarterly reports to cancer committee, and benchmarking data were embedded in study. The primary objective was to benchmark participating institutions against each other and national benchmarks. Secondary objectives were to assess causes for variance and explore the role nurse navigation plays in real time quality metrics. Results: See Table. Conclusions: This novel prospective quality study demonstrated significant compliance with established breast cancer metrics across a large community hospital affiliate program. The impact of navigation appears greatest in reducing time between screening and diagnostic testing, demonstrating that navigation’s benefits extend beyond patient satisfaction to improvement of quality metrics. [Table: see text]