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RACS ASC 2025
Measuring Efficiency in Cancer Care - an exploratory analysis of how well our systems are delivering care for breast cancer patients
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Institution: Department of Surgery, The University of Melbourne - VIC, Australia

Purpose Existing outcome measures inadequately capture patients’ perspectives of care. This study explores care efficiency, defined as optimal health outcomes using all available resources, with a people-centred focus; using All.Can’s novel tool. We aim to assess the innovation’s feasibility and review local practice. Methodology Newly diagnosed breast cancer patients from 01/01/2023-31/12/2023, were identified from our Breast Service Database. Stage 0-IV tumours were included. Patients not treated within our institution were excluded. Data regarding patient demographics and 8 metrics were collected. Metrics encompassed time-to-diagnosis, primary care interval, time-to-treatment, breast care nurse (BCN)/interpreter involvement, end-of-life care, patient experience, and shared decision-making (SDM). Results 185 patients (median 58-years-old) were included. Efficient service delivery was demonstrated for diagnostic time (20 days), primary care interval (12 days), treatment initiation (32 days), and timely BCN involvement at median 8 days post-specialist review. End-of-life chemotherapy was not examined due to 0 mortalities (median 14.1-month follow-up). Patient-centric metrics required optimisation with documentation of experience and SDM at 12.97% and 30.27% respectively. Interpreter underutilization occurred (14.29%) in all Culturally And Linguistically Diverse (CALD) patient appointments. Conclusion This study pioneers a comprehensive patient-centric tool for evaluating cancer care efficiency. Overall, measures were feasible to collect from electronic sources. Strategies to optimise timely diagnosis, coordinated care, patient engagement and equitable access are proposed. This framework can guide healthcare services towards more sustainable care.
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Authors

Dr Elizabeth Tan - , Dr Anusha Maheshwari - , Dr Shi Hui Goh - , Dr Loredana Marchione - , Dr Luke Marinovich - , Professor Christobel Saunders -