Are We Meeting Breast Cancer Survivor Preferences for Communication
and Wait Times?
Deanna J. Attai, MD FACS, Regina Hampton MD FACS, Alicia C. Staley BS MBA, Andrew Borgert PhD,
Jeffrey Landercasper MD FACS
Methods• IRB approved, de-identified survey• Cancer survivors• Posted--social media forums and in-person cancer support groups • 11 days
• Actual care versus preferred care
Results of 1000 responding cancer survivors• 784 breast cancer survivors
• 89% Non-Hispanic White• 79% college educated• 97% online social media use• 84% community size – not rural
The most “advantaged” demographic group in public health literature• How well do we meet their preferences?
Mode of Communication of “New Cancer Diagnosis”
Face to Face Phone Other0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
39%
54%
7%
50%
34%
16%ActualPreferred
Mode of Communication
% p
atien
ts
p<0.0001
Wait Time for “New Cancer Diagnosis” ≤ 2 days
≤ 2 days0%
10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
40%
82%
ActualPreferred
Wait Time
% p
atien
ts
p<0.0001
Mode of Communication of “Radiology Results”
Phone0%5%
10%15%20%25%30%35%40%
27%
35%
ActualPreferred
Mode of Communication
% p
atien
ts
p<0.0001
Wait Time for “Radiology Results” ≤ 2 days
≤2 days0%
10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
51%
84%
ActualPreferred
Wait Time
% p
atien
ts
p<0.0001
Mode of Communication of “Blood Tests”
Phone Face to Face Electronic0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
19%
31%
49%
32%25%
43%
ActualPreferred
Mode of Communication
% p
atien
ts
p<0.0001
Wait Times for “Blood Tests” ≤ 2 days
≤ 2 days0%
10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
53%
79%
ActualPreferred
Wait Time
% p
atien
ts
p<0.0001
Other Findings• Preference for mode of communication depends on
type of test
• Face to face and telephone equally acceptable for radiology results
• Email, patient portal or other electronic preferred for blood test results
Limitations, Future Steps• Narrow demographic profile• Survey has not undergone reliability or validity testing
• Interrogation of other demographic groups is critical
Conclusions• Patient reported care outcomes must be sought if we want to identify gaps
in the quality of national healthcare
• Actual care did not meet preferred care expectations for any domain of communication or wait times!
• Patients prefer rapid results, ability to ask questions
• Ask patients about preferences for mode of communication• Evaluate system issues to best honor patient preferences
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