Factors Associated with Multidisciplinary Consultations in Patients with Early Stage Breast Cancer.

Multidisciplinary care (MDC) encourages multiple specialists to formulate a unified treatment plan. We sought to determine the frequency and predictors of MDC and assess the association between MDC and nationally-recognized quality metrics in patients with breast cancer. We used the surveillance, epidemiology, and end results-medicare dataset to evaluate patients diagnosed with stages I-III breast cancer who underwent breast-conserving surgery between 2002 and 2011 with follow-up to 2012.

Factors Associated With Follow-Up Care Among Women With Early-Stage Breast Cancer.

Purpose: Follow-up guidelines vary widely among national organizations for patients with early-stage breast cancer treated with curative intent. We sought to evaluate the patterns and predictors of provider follow-up care within the first 5 years after diagnosis.

Methods: Using the SEER-Medicare linked data set, we evaluated patients who were diagnosed with stage I and II breast cancer who underwent breast-conserving surgery from 2002 to 2007 with follow-up until 2012.