Understanding primary care provider (PCP) experiences with survivorship care plans (SCPs) and informational needs when caring for cancer survivors.

Abstract

98 Background: Survivorship advocate organizations, including the Commission on Cancer and the American College of Surgeons, have proposed SCPs as one solution to help meet the post-treatment needs of cancer survivors and improve coordination of care between provider types. Though there have been a few recent studies investigating PCP evaluation of SCPs and their survivorship informational needs, widespread incorporation of PCP and other provider types’ perspectives on survivorship care planning and SCPs is lacking. Methods: Levine Cancer Institute emailed 598 surveys to PCPs and obstetrics and gynecology (OBGYN) providers affiliated with Carolinas HealthCare System. 159 surveys were returned (26.6% response rate) between February and August 2016. Results: Nearly half of providers reported having received a SCP (42.4%, 67 of 158) and the vast majority of those who did (95.5%, 64 of 67) found them useful. Providers stated that the most useful parts of the SCP for their practice needs were the surveillance recommendations (50.0%) and the treatment summary (45.3%). Respondents indicated the most challenging part of caring for cancer survivors is knowing the recommended surveillance tests/schedule/who is the responsible provider to order tests (53.8%) and knowing what late-effects of treatment to look out for (20.2%). The majority (77.7%) of providers reported using Up-to-Date to guide them in their care of patients who have completed cancer treatment. Providers indicated that guidelines for identifying and managing late (44.9%) and lingering (32.7%) effects of treatment would be the most helpful resources in caring for cancer survivors. Finally, providers reported interest in attending future CME conferences on surveillance (73.4%), managing late (57.8%) and lingering (54.1%) effects, and integrative and alternative therapies (24.8%). Conclusions: Preliminary findings from this internal survey suggest PCPs and OBGYNs may find SCPs useful and may need additional resources to guide their care of cancer survivors. We recommend formal study of preferences for SCP content among these understudied provider groups in the coordination of survivorship care.