Impact of an integrated care program for patients with head and neck cancer on the quality of care

Background. The management of patients with head and neck cancer is complex, and implementation of an integrated care program might improve the quality of care. Methods. A prospective before–after study was performed in 1 clinic for head and neck oncology on 311 adults with head and neck cancer to e...

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Published inHead & neck Vol. 31; no. 7; pp. 902 - 910
Main Authors Ouwens, Mariëlle M. M. T. J., Hermens, Rosella R. P. M. G., Hulscher, Marlies M. E. J. L., Merkx, Matthias A. W., van den Hoogen, Frank J. A., Grol, Richard P., Wollersheim, Hub C. H., Marres, Henri A. M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01.07.2009
Wiley
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Summary:Background. The management of patients with head and neck cancer is complex, and implementation of an integrated care program might improve the quality of care. Methods. A prospective before–after study was performed in 1 clinic for head and neck oncology on 311 adults with head and neck cancer to evaluate an integrated care program. Results. Scores on the integrated care indicators showed that the implementation of the integrated care program led to relevant improvements, eg, waiting time for diagnostic procedures less than 10 days (improvement of 37%), support for stopping smoking (+37%), nutrition support (+44%), assessment of CT and MRI scans by a an expert radiologist (+23%), and number of patients in contact with the specialist nurses (+37%). The program had no relevant effects on the outcome indicators. Conclusion. An integrated care program can improve several aspects of the management of patients with head and neck cancer. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2009
Bibliography:ark:/67375/WNG-PJWVGF2S-D
istex:03E039080E87E19FF30E0D3ADC87594ACDEC8EA3
Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, The Netherlands
ArticleID:HED21041
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ISSN:1043-3074
1097-0347
DOI:10.1002/hed.21041