Väntetider i lungcancervården. Patientlotsar gav snabbare flöde
Sammanfattning
The work-up process for lung cancer patients consists of several steps from suspicion of malignant disease to start of treatment. Delays between these
steps should be minimized. Data in the Swedish National Lung Cancer Register show that the work-up times for lung cancer patients vary greatly between
different counties in central Sweden. In order to reduce delays, a trial of implementing patient guides (Sw: patientlotsar) for patients referred to the hospital was
conducted. When comparing the work-up times before and after implementation of patient guides the median waiting time from suspicion of lung cancer to start of
treatment in the region was reduced from 71 to 45 days. Furthermore, the duration of most of the steps in the work-up process were shortened despite more
complex investigation procedures, e.g. increased use of PET/CT in the guided patient group.