Survivorship

At the 2016 Oncology Nursing Society Annual Congress, nurses from different practice settings described the various ways in which they have developed and implemented survivorship care plans, which are expected to be needed for more than 18 million individuals within 10 years.

Survivorship medicine has never been in more demand, but questions regarding reimbursement remain.

A new paradigm of survivorship care is needed that attempts to balance the patient’s total well-being against the often toxic treatment of the disease, suggests Deborah Korenstein, MD, Director of Clinical Effectiveness, Memorial Hospital, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York City.

Linking physicians and patients is a major undertaking, but given the ubiquity of smartphone technology and the rise in app development, the healthcare industry is poised to leverage advances in communication and information exchange.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) maintains that a multidisciplinary team (MDT) is the cornerstone of quality care, yet despite incentives and interest, little is known about how teams affect cancer delivery.

The authors evaluate the effects of a physician-referred exercise program on self-reported CRF and QOL in early cancer survivors.

A report on navigating barriers to care and providing the best support for patients with colorectal cancer.

Effective transition to primary care is achieved through information sharing, which means that all young adult survivors should receive copies of their cancer-related medical records, a treatment summary, and a survivorship care plan.

Nurse navigators play a critical role in the delivery of quality survivorship care in the posttreatment setting, connect patients to critical resources, and facilitate patient-centered communication and care coordination among providers.

Patients with breast cancer preferred standard clinician-led care to a patient-led process after initial treatment, as well as clinical follow-up by a medical oncologist or breast cancer surgeon. Assessment of patients’ expectations can lead to a follow-up program that meets their needs.