Survivorship care plans for patients with head and neck cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the perceived value of survivorship care plans (SCPs) (cancer treatment summaries and follow-up recommendations).

DESIGN: Survey of patients and their physicians between 3 and 4 years after receipt of the SCP.

SETTING: Ambulatory, tertiary care medical center.

PATIENTS: A convenience sample of head and neck cancer survivors living 3 years after each had been mailed a personal SCP shortly after completion of cancer treatment. Twenty survivors were contacted, and all agreed to participate.

INTERVENTIONS: Institutional review board-approved, scripted telephone survey to determine whether patients and their primary care physicians still had their SCPs and found them useful.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Survey responses.

RESULTS: Only 2 of 20 survivors and 11 of 21 physicians or dentists were able to locate or remember having received the SCPs 3 years later. Eighteen of 20 survivors were unsure of the value of SCPs.

CONCLUSIONS: Despite a widely held belief that patients benefit from receiving SCPs, our initial attempt found little awareness of these documents by either the head and neck cancer survivors or their primary care physicians.