Survivorship care plans for colorectal cancer survivors: What do primary care providers want and need?

Abstract

9131 Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors face health challenges and poor coordination of care. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) proposed that after treatment completion, oncologists should provide patients with personalized treatment summaries and plans of care to share with their primary care providers (PCPs) to inform ongoing care. We aimed to determine the optimal content of these survivorship care plans by assessing what information PCPs need to care for CRC survivors. Methods: All physicians and mid-level clinicians in two Practice-Based Research Networks in MN and PA were invited to participate in an internet survey between August and December 2010. The survey assessed the need for information about the care of CRC survivors. The IOM‘s proposed survivorship care plan includes 45 topics of information. For each topic, PCPs rated whether they typically receive enough information. Results: 108 (44%) of PCPs responded to the invitation; 87 PCPs were eligible and completed the survey. For 24 (53%) of the topics, at least half of respondents felt they typically had too little information. Most PCPs felt they had too little information about whether there were problems with chemotherapy (70%) and whether the oncologist intended to monitor for other cancers (68%). There was widespread agreement that PCPs do not receive enough information about increased risk of second cancers, other cancers, and other diseases (78%); long-term effects of chemotherapy (72%); long-term effects of radiation (64%); and genetic counseling and testing to identify high-risk individuals (76%). Conclusions: PCPs typically lack information to provide optimal care for their patients who have had CRC. PCPs often need information both about their individual patients and about general survivorship issues. Survivorship care plans which address the treatment history and recommended care for CRC survivors may fill important gaps in PCPs’ knowledge by communicating details of patients’ cancer history and providing general survivorship information. Further, specifying which providers are responsible for different aspects of ongoing care could promote care coordination as survivors navigate between cancer treatment and primary care.