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Navigators - Electronic Tracking and measuring patients’
psychosocial needs in your cancer-survivorship program

Navigators may customize their practice’s survivorship-program
assessments by visit and/or tumor-type.
[View sample real-time report]

Implementing Navigator’s Breast Cancer-Survivorship Program -
Quickly and Cost Effectively!
[View PDF sample real-time report]

Navigator Process:

Staff enters patient ID and hands tablet to patient
“This questionnaire asks for your concerns and experience. Your answers will
help us individualize your care, identify, and address any concerns.”

Please select your visit:

  1. My initial assessment
    (Branches patient to Visit 1 questionnaires)
  2. Post-treatment assessment and symptom management
    (Visit 2 questionnaires)
  3. Focusing on new-normal
    (Visit 3 questionnaires)
  4. Focusing on permanent survivorship issues
    (Visit 4 questionnaires)


Review-of-System Since Last Visit

Patient selects Y/N for ALL medial history since last visit...then answers system-details Y/N "checkmark" for Yes choices are in real-time report

Visit 1 questionnaires

Please select your cancer diagnosis:

  1. Breast [ view PDF ]
    Patient answers FACT-B includes FBSI subscales) + PHQ-9
  2. Colorectal [ view PDF ]
    Patient answers FACT C includes FCSI subscales) + PHQ-9
  3. Lung [ view PDF ]
    Patient answers FACT L includes FLSI subscales) + PHQ-9

 

Please identify your concerns: (Choose all that apply)

1. Anemia
2. Anorexia/Weight loss
3. Anxiety

4. Cognitive impairment
5. (Chemo brain)
6. Depression
7. Fatigue

8. Lymphedema
9. Neuropathy
10. Neutropenia

 11. Thrombocytopenia
12. Pain
13. Navigating safely within your home
14. Sexuality/reproductive concerns
15. Marital / partner/family relations

16. Bone density /osteopenia/osteoporosis
17. Finding the new normal

 18. Wellness (diet, exercise, smoking cessation, stress management, spirituality)

19. Genetic risk
20. Employment/financial
21. Environmental (i.e. radon testing)

“Thank you for completing these assessments. Your responses be will scored and the results
will be available for you to review with your healthcare team.”

Patient returns tablet to Navigator for uploading responses and instant real-time reports.

The FACIT Measurement System is a collection of QOL questionnaires targeted to the management of chronic illness. "FACIT"
(Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy)

Real-time QOL reports

Navigators receive the FACT General, a 27-item compilation of general questions,
divided into four primary QOL domains, plus cancer-specific symptom indices:

1. Physical Well-Being,
2. Social/Family Well-Being,
3. Emotional Well-Being, and
4. Functional Well-Being.
5. Specific symptom indices - Breast, Brain, Bladder, Colorectal, Lung etc.

 

 

Studies of "Quality of Life" (QOL)...

  • Using Quality-of-life data as prognostic indicators of survival in cancer patients [ view PDF ]
  • Reliability Validity of FACIT Palliative Cancer scale [ view PDF ]
  • Reliability Validity of FACIT Breast Cancer Therapy scale [ view PDF ]
  • FACIT-Breast Assessment Giving Patients a Choice Improves QOL [ view PDF ]

Abstract: ... with few exceptions the findings show that quality-of-life data ...were significant independent predictors of survival duration.

Lung Cancer; ... baseline or global QOL scores were independent prognostic indicators of survival duration. A clinical trial using FACT-lung showed that a higher baseline physical well-being score ... associated with better response to treatment and lower risk of death.

"This approach is currently receiving more attention and many believe it could help both physicians and patients, and even family caregivers to achieve a better under- standing of the treatment outcomes of cancer patients and make appropriate decisions."

Real-time QOL report objectives

Patients

  1. Acceptance of doing QOL at visit sequence
  2. Usefulness of real-time reports e.g., trended graphs, data, concern, referrals, internet resources
  3. Real-time reports enlisting caregiver's involvement and support for treatment plan
  4. Patient satisfaction improvement
  5. Increase in patient education / knowledge
  6. Supportive feedback during treatment process
  7. Improvement in adherence to navigator-recommendations and healthy behaviors

Providers

  1. Quick reference to improve physician's explanation, showing compassion
  2. Improvement in physician's satisfaction
  3. QOL helpful as predictors of survival/time
  4. Depression's affect on QOL

Navigators

  1. Guide for involvement in supporting patient's treatment plan
  2. Add efficiencies for referrals and avoid inappropriate referrals
  3. Timeliness of referrals
  4. FACT scores alerting navigators' intersession
  5. PHQ-9 behavioral health alerting Navigators' process

 

Corporate

  1. Growth in Market share: Emphasize physician-specialties e.g. - breast, lung, colorectal
  2. P.R. - Publicize patient stories and unique navigator programs as first in US
  3. Higher provider and patient satisfaction = improved ROI $$
  4. More efficient treatment = corporate cost savings
  5. Higher quarterly encounters/referrals - likelihood of patients recommending your Oncology Practice to family and friends
  6. Cost savings: Fixed monthly cost = less $ per patient administration of navigator tools

Research

  1. Field anonymous navigator-and-provider satisfaction questionnaire of these goals
  2. SPSS Research of behavioral health (depression) and FACIT item correlations (Excel data is instantly available offsite)
  3. Publish Oncology paper of navigators' experiences

FACT Function Assessments include summary graphs
plus all 27 FACT Items with current responses



Instant real-time QOL assessments trend psychosocial domains for navigators, patients, caregivers and physicians. Trended graphs support and inform treatment options, diagnoses, and preventive behaviors.

Sample FACT Reports

Please contact us for an example navigator process by visit 1, 2, and 3.
Please contact us for pricing

One low-monthly charge includes:

1. Survey Tablets For Unlimited Responses
2. Web Communication- base and software
3. Web Hosting and Instant data compiling by site
4. Programming English and Spanish custom questionnaires

Process:

FACT responses, sent HIPAA compliant via web, compile, score, trend results and print locally by ID all on one page. Reports graph total scores by administration dates in subset categories. Today’s report lists FACT items and patient’s responses to inform navigators, patient’s action plan and involvement.

  • Real-time report is available for reprinting, online, by ID
  • FACT data variables are ready to export for Excel