With cancer diagnoses and death rates in Michigan often higher than the national average, a new, patient-centered collaboration between the Patient Advocate Foundation’s Patient Insight Institute (PAF), the Michigan Oncology Quality Consortium (MOQC), and Gilead Sciences Inc., seeks to improve screening measures and generate better outcomes.
The project goal is to understand how to best screen patients for aspects of their environment that could affect their health outcomes.
Modern research acknowledges the dramatic effect that social detriments of health can have on outcomes, but current screening methodologies have yet to be developed by patients, and often fail to prioritize human interaction, communication, and trust.
The project will work within MOQC’s existing network of oncology centers to develop a patient-centered screening protocol to screen for financial and health-related social needs, and then plan to implement that protocol through demonstration sites.
In addition, the program will connect patients to resources that meet their immediate needs, and lead to increased treatment adherence and better health and quality of life outcomes for patients.
“Our ultimate goal with this project is to develop a blueprint for how health care can better meet patients’ needs that go beyond direct medical care but are critical for health and healing,” says Rebekah Angove, executive vice president of research and evaluation at PAF.
“Too often we forget to ask patients what they want and need. Because PAF is leading this project, patients will be building a model of care with the community-based services, providers and clinics,” said Rebekah Angove, PhD, PAF executive vice president of research and evaluation.
The project will initially focus on Michigan’s small- to medium-sized oncology practices that serve low-income and under-resourced populations. These practices sometimes struggle to provide robust screening and interventions for health-related social needs.
The partnership, led by PAF’s Patient Insight Institute, states they will incorporate patients’ perspectives into every step of the project, from data collection to review. The goal is to bring forward a patient-developed protocol that can be customized based on the clinics’ (and patients’) unique needs and workflows.
Ultimately, the project will identify best practices to scale to other clinics and geographies.
For more information, visit Patient Insight Institute or Michigan Oncology Quality Consortium.
, the Michigan Oncology Quality Consortium (MOQC), and Gilead Sciences Inc., seeks to improve screening measures and generate better outcomes.){kind=link}