Impact of nurse navigation on timeliness of diagnostic medical services in patients with newly diagnosed lung cancer.

BACKGROUND: The Summa Cancer Institute in Akron, Ohio, sought to improve access to and the timeliness of lung cancer care by hiring an oncology-certified nurse navigator. The nurse navigator was charged with coordinating diagnostic procedures and specialty oncology consultations, and with facilitating a multidisciplinary thoracic oncology tumor board. OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that nurse navigation would improve the timeliness of and access to diagnostic medical services among men and women with newly diagnosed lung cancer. METHODS: A conducted a retrospective review of 460 patients with lung cancer to evaluate access to care and the timeliness of the care received in the non-navigated and nurse-navigated cohorts. RESULTS: During December 2009-September 2013, the time between the suspicion of cancer on chest X-ray to treatment was 64 days. During October 2013-March 2014, the nurse navigator helped reduce that timespan to 45 days (𝑃 < .001). LIMITATIONS: Long-term follow-up on clinical outcomes remains premature. CONCLUSION: This finding attests to the successful implementation of nurse navigation to improve access and timeliness of lung cancer care in a community oncology practice.