Simplifying Survivorship Care Planning

BACKGROUND: Each year, approximately 1.6 million people are diagnosed with cancer and the relative 5-year survival rate across all cancer types approaches 70%. As of 2014, there were almost 15 million Americans living with a history of cancer. Cancer survivors face a variety of health care needs, including surveillance for recurrence, treatment for long-term and late effects of cancer and its treatment, general primary and preventive care, management of any comorbidities, encouragement of healthy lifestyle behaviors, and attention to psychosocial issues. In 2005, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report 'From Cancer Patient to Cancer Survivor: Lost in Transition' highlighted the challenges that cancer survivors face as they transition from acute treatment. The completion of acute cancer treatment is a critical juncture at which patients are in need of better support and communication to ensure optimal health and quality of life outcomes as they transition to long-term survivorship. Cancer survivors face substantial deficiencies in the quality of care that they receive, including both underuse of recommended care and overuse of services that are not recommended for routine follow-up. The 2005 IOM report called for all patients completing acute treatment to be provided with a survivorship care plan (SCP) that summarizes treatments received and outlines future healthcare priorities in order to facilitate effective management of health care between survivors and their oncology and primary care providers.

STUDY PROCEDURES: The primary aim of this trial is to assess whether there is a difference among three SCP models of varying levels of resource intensity and patients' receipt of recommended health services in the months following completion of acute treatment. The investigators will conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to measure whether the provision of the SCP to the survivor and primary care provider (PCP) is associated with survivors' receipt of cancer follow-up care as outlined on their SCP (primary outcome). Avoidance of non-recommended care, receipt of recommended primary and preventive care, and patient-reported outcome measures will serve as secondary endpoints.

Participants in the RCT will have been treated for breast, prostate, or colorectal cancer. This RCT will be conducted in four oncology clinics in two medical systems. The investigators will enroll survivors of Stage I-III breast, prostate, or colorectal cancer who are completing treatment and transitioning to long-term survivorship, and use a stratified randomization to assign participants to one of three study conditions (Arms A, B or C). This study will focus specifically on the period following completion of acute treatment (e.g., surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy); patients receiving long-term adjuvant endocrine/antibody therapies will also be eligible.

The proposed trial will be conducted at Johns Hopkins Medical Institution (JHMI) and Peninsula Regional Medical Center (PRMC). JHMI is a large, academic medical center in an urban setting with distinct treatment programs based on disease site. At JHMI, the investigators will recruit from the Breast Cancer Program, the Genitourinary Cancer Program (prostate cancer), and Gastrointestinal Cancer Program (colorectal cancer). These programs operate across disciplines (e.g., medical, radiation, and surgical oncology) but separately from each other, enabling evaluation of 3 separate clinical settings within JHMI. In addition, the trial will include the PRMC Richard A. Henson Cancer Institute, a community cancer program located in the rural area of Maryland's eastern shore. At PRMC there is a single general oncology practice. The four programs differ in the extent to which survivorship care planning is already a part of routine care. As yet, none of the clinics in this study has a consistent format for the delivery of SCP universally at the completion of acute treatment. The study design (cancer types, clinical systems and SCP models) is intended to enable the development of real-world best practices for the implementation of SCPs and assess whether these are consistent or vary across a wide range of clinical contexts and survivor characteristics.

Each participant will be followed for 18 months, with the number of visits dependent on the randomization arm (described below). The investigators will abstract 18 months of follow-up data for enrolled patients from medical records, as well as from patient reports of health service use; data will be collected at months 6, 12, and 18. The investigators will obtain and abstract medical records guided by the information in the summary document (see Health Services Use Summary included as a supplemental study document) and from the patient using provided tracking tools of providers they have seen, tests they have undergone, etc. (see Tip Sheet in supplemental study documents). Patient-reported outcomes will be collected at baseline, 6, 12, and 18 months primarily via a REDCap form, with telephone or in-person data collection as a back-up when needed.