Patient Navigation for Timely, Guideline-Adherent Adjuvant Therapy for Head and Neck Cancer: A National Landscape Analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Aligned with the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology for Head and Neck Cancers, in November 2021 the Commission on Cancer approved initiation of postoperative radiation therapy (PORT) within 6 weeks of surgery for head and neck cancer (HNC) as its first and only HNC quality metric. Unfortunately, >50% of patients do not commence PORT within 6 weeks, and delays disproportionately burden racial and ethnic minority groups. Although patient navigation (PN) is a potential strategy to improve the delivery of timely, equitable, guideline-adherent PORT, the national landscape of PN for this aspect of care is unknown.

Materials and methods

From September through November 2022, we conducted a survey of health care organizations that participate in the American Can

SUBMITTER: Graboyes EM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10846494 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature