Improvements in communication and engagement of advance care planning in adults with metastatic cancer through a targeted team approach.

14 Background: Advance care planning (ACP) continues to be a vital part of comprehensive, person-centered cancer care. A large community oncology practice performed a targeted approach to improve patient engagement of ACP. A process improvement project with three goals was set: increasing ACP referrals, ACP counseling visits and completed Values Assessment (VA) instrument. A leadership team consisting of practice director, physician, nurse manager, and nurse practitioner was developed with ownership of roles and responsibilities.

METHODS: The ACP leadership team outlined workflows to be tested, followed by evaluating outcomes of each goal over 107 days. Barriers and challenges were identified; ACP education was taught to staff. NP and RNs introduced ACP to patients during ChemoTeaching. Eligible patients were identified weekly by infusion RNs on C1D1, and patients were given the VA. Desk RNs would speak with patients on C1D2 to review symptoms and VA responses. RNs would offer ACP visits to patients. Referrals were made for patients to have one-on-one counseling with NP. Staff was educated about EMR documentation by RN manager. Weekly team phone meetings were held to discuss project status.

RESULTS: During the first 53 days of the project, 20 patients were identified at C1D1, 5 VA were completed and 15 ACP visits occurred. After evaluation, weekly communication with clinical staff increased to daily huddles. Daily communication allowed for RNs to identify C1D1 patients and communicate to the full team. During the second 54 days, 94 patients were identified at C1D1, 46 VA were completed, and 27 ACP visits occurred. A 5-fold increase occurred in patient identification; a 9-fold increase in VA completion occurred, and approximately 2-fold increase occurred in ACP counseling.

CONCLUSIONS: By developing a focused and concerted process on ACP, the cancer center was able to show that patient engagement in the ACP process markedly improved. A navigation process for identifying patients who would benefit from ACP counseling was vital in increasing in the counseling visits. Continual quality improvement by refining processes in the ACP program will benefit patients.