Creating a Community-Wide Safety Net for Centralized Tracking and Management of Incidental Lung Nodule Findings — [MINI PODCAST] Ep 160

Find the CANCER BUZZ podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts!

Enterprise intelligence software analyzes imaging results of all patients treated at UCHealth to identify and stratify those with high-risk findings. When a concerning abnormality is found, patients and providers are alerted to the finding, and patients are referred for additional follow-up. After this system-wide approach led to a 2,514% increase in actively managed patients, a centralized care management function was implemented to streamline processes, reducing the time to recommend next steps from 34 to 5 days.

Guest:

Nina Thomas, MD

Director, Thoracic Malignancy Pillar of Center for Lung and Breathing

University of Colorado – UCHealth, University of Colorado Cancer Center

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary Sciences & Critical Care Medicine

University of Colorado School of Medicine

Aurora, Colorado

“This is a universal problem that we have across the country as far as early detection and following up with these patients…so the benefit to coming in person [to a meeting like the NOC] is that it can be a collaborative event where we can have discussions, share ideas and innovations, and improve each other’s systems.”

Hear more about this innovation at the ACCC 41^st National Oncology Conference, October 9-11, 2024, in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Additional Resources:

• Lung Cancer Screening Implementation Change Package
• Reimagining Healthcare for Incidental Lung Nodules
• A 3D Lung Nodule Tool Improves Patient Distress Following LDCT
• Robotic Bronchoscopy