Background: Patient navigation is the logistical and emotional support necessary to achieve diagnostic and treatment compliance. It can improve time to diagnosis, initiation of treatment, and patient satisfaction, as well as reduce the cost of treatment. Colombia has a well-defined Cancer Control Plan, but its implementation is lacking.
Aim: To implement the first patient navigation initiative in Colombia, as part of a pilot program for the early detection of breast cancer.
Methods: The process involved assessing and addressing the barriers faced by women to access breast health care by providing training for health personnel, strengthening primary health care providers, and coordinating diverse level institutions for the provision of services. This led to the design and implementation of a navigation strategy focused on the needs of patients in Cali, Colombia and the involvement of the local health system to provide such services.
Results: Time to diagnosis was significantly reduced; research advanced by the Colombian National Institute of Cancerology shows that the average time between the first medical consultation and diagnosis was 91 days (CI 95%: 82-97 days), while this study carried out the same process in an average of 30 days, but patients still had issues with continuity of treatment due to financial strain between healthcare providers and insurers. Navigation, however, manages to overcome many of these problems by assisting women in the clinical and administrative care processes and seeking well-being for the beneficiaries. In addition, patient navigation helped identify critical failures in care, such as fragmentation of care and excessive bureaucracy. The navigation process improved data collection and established agreements to simplify and make the delivery of care more efficient. In addition, it generated partnerships between service providers and insurers.
Conclusion: While several barriers and poor understanding of the navigation process still exist, a navigation program can help implement a Cancer Control Plan.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cnr2.1564 | DOI Listing |
JMIR Form Res
January 2025
Center for Cancer Health Equity, Rutgers Cancer Institute, New Brunswick, NJ, United States.
Background: Cervical cancer disparities persist among minoritized women due to infrequent screening and poor follow-up. Structural and psychosocial barriers to following up with colposcopy are problematic for minoritized women. Evidence-based interventions using patient navigation and tailored telephone counseling, including the Tailored Communication for Cervical Cancer Risk (TC3), have modestly improved colposcopy attendance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Dent Sci
December 2024
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.
Background/purpose: Computer-assisted implant surgery (CAIS) is increasingly performed to reduce deviations in implant position. Dynamic CAIS or navigation systems provide instant display of implant drilling instruments and patient positions directly on the computer monitor. Augmented reality (AR) technology allows operators to visualize real-time information projected onto the lenses of AR glasses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMJ Open
December 2024
Department of Public Health Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Introduction: Urgent, tailored and equitable action is needed to address the alarming rise in syphilis rates in Canada. In the last decade, the rates of infectious syphilis have increased by 345% in Ontario, Canada. Underserved populations-people who use drugs, un(der)housed individuals and those living in rural and remote areas-face unique social and healthcare challenges that increase their vulnerability to syphilis infections and hinder their access to timely diagnosis and treatment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBMJ Open
December 2024
Health Services Research in Emergency and Acute Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Objective: Evidence suggests interventions targeting low-acuity attendances have been hampered by insufficient characterisation of potential target groups. This study aimed to estimate the frequency of low-acuity emergency department (ED) attendances and to provide an overview of their demographic, diagnosis and consultation patterns.
Design: Observational analyses of routine healthcare data.
Med Biol Eng Comput
January 2025
Mechanical Engineering Department, Tianjin University, No. 135, Yaguan Road, Haihe Education Park, Jinnan District, Tianjin City, 300350, China.
The use of AR technology in image-guided neurosurgery enables visualization of lesions that are concealed deep within the brain. Accurate AR registration is required to precisely match virtual lesions with anatomical structures displayed under a microscope. The purpose of this work was to develop a real-time augmented surgical navigation system using contactless line-structured light registration, microscope calibration, and visible optical tracking.
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