Quality improvement intervention to reduce time to postoperative radiation in head and neck free flap patients

xlomafota13 shared this article with you from Inoreader Quality improvement intervention to reduce time to postoperative radiation in head and neck free flap patients Via Head & Neck Abstract Background Best-practice guidelines for head and neck cancer patients advise postoperative radiation therapy (PORT) initiation within 6 weeks of surgery. We report our institutional experience improving timeliness of adjuvant radiation in free-flap patients. Methods Thirty-nine patients met inclusion criteria in the 2017–2019 study period. We divided into "Early" (n = 19) and "Late" (n = 20) time-period groups to compare performance over time. The primary endpoint was time to PORT initiation, with success defined as <6 weeks. Results The number of patients achieving timely PORT improved from 10.5% in the Early group to 50.0% in the Late group (p = 0.014). Patients undergoing concurrent adjuvant chemoradiation were more likely to meet the PORT target in the Late group (p = 0.012). Conclusions We ascribe this quality improvement in free-flap patients to increased communication among multidisciplinary care teams, proactive consultation referrals, and a targeted patient-navigator intervention. Though work is needed to further improve performance, insight gained from our experience may benefit other teams. View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.