Background: The Summa Cancer Institute in Akron, Ohio, sought to improve access to and the timeliness of lung cancer care by hiring an oncology-certified nurse navigator. The nurse navigator was charged with coordinating diagnostic procedures and specialty oncology consultations, and with facilitating a multidisciplinary thoracic oncology tumor board.
Objective: To test the hypothesis that nurse navigation would improve the timeliness of and access to diagnostic medical services among men and women with newly diagnosed lung cancer.
Methods: A conducted a retrospective review of 460 patients with lung cancer to evaluate access to care and the timeliness of the care received in the non-navigated and nurse-navigated cohorts.
Results: During December 2009-September 2013, the time between the suspicion of cancer on chest X-ray to treatment was 64 days. During October 2013-March 2014, the nurse navigator helped reduce that timespan to 45 days (𝑃 < .001).
Limitations: Long-term follow-up on clinical outcomes remains premature.
Conclusion: This finding attests to the successful implementation of nurse navigation to improve access and timeliness of lung cancer care in a community oncology practice.
Keywords: lung cancer care; nurse navigation; nurse navigator; timeliness.
©2015 Frontline Medical Communications.