KanSurvive: Testing a Model for Improving Cancer Survivorship Care in Rural Practice

While evidence-based practice (EBP) guidelines exist for cancer survivorship care, implementation in rural practices has fallen short. Approximately 72.5% of Kansas cancer survivors who have completed their cancer treatment receive a majority of their health care from Primary Care Providers, yet these providers describe a lack of basic awareness of risk-based surveillance, effects of cancer treatment and their management, as well as inadequate resources, and growing administrative demands as reasons for not working to improve survivorship care. These factors may also prevent shared care management of cancer survivors between primary care and rural oncology care providers. There is a pressing need to understand primary care practice capacity to implement guideline informed management and follow-up for cancer survivors in the acute and extended phases of care.

Specific Aim 1. Formally assess gaps in processes of care and additional training needed to result in actual adoption of high-quality care for acute and chronic survivors of breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancer in 20 rural primary care practices. Utilize this formative information to further refine the KanSurvive-ECHO.

Specific Aim 2. Evaluate the effectiveness of KanSurvive-ECHO for enhancing evidence-based survivorship care for rural breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancer survivors.

Hypothesis: Compared to delayed intervention control, rural primary care practices randomized to KanSurvive-ECHO will demonstrate greater concordance with evidence-based survivorship care guidelines as measured by a composition score determined by change in EHR documentation consistent with guideline concordant care.

Specific Aim 3: Utilizing the Integrated Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (i-PARIHS) framework describe key facilitators and barriers to implementation of KanSurvive-ECHO including innovation, recipients, context, and facilitation.

This novel project will provide a model for development of a community of practice using practice facilitation and Project ECHO to improve the management and follow-up of cancer survivors in the acute and extended phases of cancer survivorship.