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 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.


CONCLUSIONS
An integrated care program can improve several aspects of the management of patients with head and neck cancer.
Ouwens
Mariëlle M M T J
MM
IQ Scientific Institute for Quality of Healthcare, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. m.ouwens@iq.umcn.nl
Hermens
Rosella R P M G
RR
Hulscher
Marlies M E J L
MM
Merkx
Matthias A W
MA
van den Hoogen
Frank J A
FJ
Grol
Richard P
RP
Wollersheim
Hub C H
HC
Marres
Henri A M
HA
D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D019033:Delivery of Health Care, Integrated / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017064:Process Assessment, Health Care; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome