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Background Oncology care is delivered largely in ambulatory settings by interdisciplinary teams. Treatments are often complex, extended in time, dispersed geographically and vulnerable to teamwork failures. To address this risk, we developed and piloted a team training initiative in the breast cancer programme at a comprehensive cancer centre. Methods Based on clinic observations, interviews with key staff and analyses of incident reports, we developed interventions to address four high-risk areas: (1) miscommunication of chemotherapy order changes on the day of treatment; (2) missing orders on treatment days without concurrent physician appointments; (3) poor follow-up with team members about active patient issues; and (4) conflict between providers and staff. The project team developed protocols and agreements to address team members' roles, responsibilities and behaviours. Results Using a train-the-trainer model, 92%of breast cancer staff completed training. The incidence of missing orders for unlinked visits decreased from 30% to 2% (p<0.001). Patient satisfaction scores regarding coordination of care improved from 93 to 97 (p=0.026). Providers, infusion nurses and support staff reported improvement in efficiency (75%, 86%, 90%), quality (82%, 93%, 93%) and safety (92%, 92%, 90%) of care, and more respectful behaviour (92%, 79%, 83%) and improved relationships among team members (91%, 85%, 92%). Although most clinicians reported a decrease in non-communicated changes, there was insufficient statistical power to detect a difference. Conclusions Team training improved communication, task coordination and perceptions of efficiency, quality, safety and interactions among team members as well as patient perception of care coordination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Delays to adjuvant chemotherapy initiation in breast cancer may adversely affect clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction. We previously identified an association between genomic testing (Oncotype DX) and delayed chemotherapy initiation. We sought to reduce the interval between surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy initiation by developing standardized criteria and workflows for Oncotype DX testing. Methods Criteria for surgeon-initiated reflex Oncotype DX testing, workflows for communication between surgeons and medical oncologists and a streamlined process for receiving and processing Oncotype DX requests in pathology were established by multidisciplinary consensus. Criteria for surgeon-initiated testing included patients ⩽ 65 years old with T1cN0 (grade 2 or 3), T2N0 (grade 1 or 2), or T1/T2N1 (grade 1 or 2) breast cancer on final surgical pathology. Medical oncologists could elect to initiate Oncotype testing for cases falling outside the criteria.Wethen examined 720 consecutive patients with breast cancer who underwent Oncotype DX testing postoperatively between January 1, 2014 and November 28, 2016 and measured intervals between date of surgery, Oncotype DX order date, result received date and chemotherapy initiation date (if applicable) before and after intervention implementation. Results The introduction of standardized criteria and workflows reduced time between surgery and OncotypeDXordering and time from surgery to receipt of result, by 7.3 days (P,.001) and 6.3 days (P<.001), respectively. The mean number of days between surgery and initiation of chemotherapy was also reduced by 6.4 days (P = .004). Conclusion Developing consensus on Oncotype DX testing criteria and implementing streamlined workflows has led to clinically significant reductions in wait times to chemotherapy decision making and initiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Mastectomy with immediate reconstruction (MIR) requires coordination between breast and reconstructive surgical teams, leading to increased preoperative delays that may adversely impact patient outcomes and satisfaction. Our cancer center established a target of 28 daysfrom initial consultation with the breast surgeon to MI R.We sought to determine if a centralized breast/reconstructive surgical coordinator (BRC) could reduce care delays. Methods A 60-day pilot to evaluate the impact of a BRC on timeliness of care was initiated at our cancer center. All reconstructive surgery candidates were referred to the BRC, who had access to surgical clinic and operating room schedules. The BRC worked with both surgical services to identify the earliest surgery dates and facilitated operative bookings. The median time to MIR and the proportion of MIR cases that met the time-to-treatment goal was determined. These results were compared with a baseline cohort of patients undergoing MIR during the same time period (January to March) in 2013 and 2014. Results A total of 99 patients were referred to the BRC (62% cancer, 21% neoadjuvant, 17% prophylactic) during the pilot period. Focusing exclusively on patients with a cancer diagnosis, an 18.5% increase in the percentage of cases meeting the target (P = .04) and a 7-day reduction to MIR (P = .02) were observed. Conclusion A significant reduction in time to MIR was achieved through the implementation of the BRC. Further research is warranted to validate these findings and assess the impact the BRC has on operational efficiency and workflows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]