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Web program implements IOM recommendations for improved thyroid cancer care
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The Thyroid Cancer Care Collaborative, or TCCC, a Web-based initiative for improving thyroid cancer care, allows the incorporation of three Institute of Medicine recommendations for redesigning the system of care delivery, according to study findings.
“The TCCC is a patient-centered Web-based relational database and information program that integrates an individual’s thyroid cancer data into a user-friendly centralized data repository,” the researchers wrote. “The TCCC offers care that is patient-centered, efficient, timely, effective, safe, equitable and cost-effective. It addresses the three recommendations and challenges made directly to clinicians by the Institute of Medicine in their landmark report on quality in health care and thus fits squarely in a larger overhauled health care delivery system.”
The review outlined four main reasons given by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) for inadequate health care in the United States, in general, and particularly as pertains to thyroid cancer care.
First, the researchers discussed the proliferation of science and epidemiologic findings across all fields of medicine. Although this, ultimately, will benefit the quality of care, the researchers said there are difficulties for practitioners in accessing and retaining all pertinent data in an effective way.
The second obstacle to quality health care, according to the study, is the increasing number of patients with chronic conditions. The researchers said because thyroid cancer is not self-limiting and requires treatment and monitoring lasting more than 4 months, it can be considered chronic. Chronic conditions present challenges in terms of multi-specialist collaborations, difficulties in detecting early changes in chronic conditions, and long-term changes in patient residence, insurance or other personal details.
Poorly organized health care delivery structures, particularly in low-volume practitioner settings, were another flaw addressed by the IOM. The study researchers discussed inefficient and sometimes non-HIPAA compliant chains of communication and their results on patient care.
Finally, the researchers discussed the IOM’s observations about barriers to new technological applications. These obstacles, according to the researchers, are technical, organizational and policy-related.
To address these four issues, the researchers developed the TCCC, which is a Web-based, patient-focused database and information resource. The TCCC incorporates patients’ thyroid cancer data into a centralized storage space. It includes various modules that reflect different aspects of care, including initial presentation, imaging, surgical management, postoperative hospital care, surgical follow-up, pathology and staging, nuclear medicine, post-treatment monitoring and changes in health status. It features computer-assisted decision support systems, compiling and sharing of information, decrease in errors and improved patient/clinician communication.
“The TCCC is an innovative program that utilizes IT to redesign the system of providing care to patients with thyroid care,” the researchers wrote. “We believe it offers significant quality advantages to patients, practitioners and researchers involved with thyroid cancer.”
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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