Improving Patient Care and Self-Management Pathways for Breast Cancer: The 4R Model
Posted: Thursday, April 16, 2020
The 4R model, which stands for “right information and right care for the right patient at the right time,” was developed by researchers at the Center for Business Models in Healthcare and Northwestern University and aims to empower both patients and caregivers throughout the cancer pathway plan. According to Della F. Makower, MD, of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, and colleagues, the 4R model shows promise as a self-management method for patients with early breast cancer. The findings were originally slated for presentation at the 2020 NCCN Annual Conference (Abstract BPI20-017) and published in the JNCCN–Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.
The 4R model was implemented for patients with breast cancer and their care team at two major institutions that primarily serve minority and underserved patients. The research team measured patient self-management metrics using historical surveys for those who did not receive the 4R model, and post-implementation surveys for the 4R cohort.
Just 63% of patients (77 of 123) who did not receive a care sequence plan reported their care was explained “well or very well,” compared with 90% of patients (45 of 50) who received the care sequence plan (P = .0002). Similarly, 90% of patients who received care sequence plans reported them to be useful or very useful. A significantly higher number of patients in the 4R cohort reported knowing the stage of their cancer (P = .0043) and reported they “never or seldom felt not in control of care” (P = .016) than the historical survey group.
“An ongoing 4R collaboration continues development of the 4R model to address remaining gaps and improve 4R effectiveness,” the researchers concluded.
Disclosures: This project was partially funded by a grant from Pfizer through the NCCN Oncology Research Program.
