Tracking & Feedback Registry to Reduce Breast Cancer Treatment Disparities

Study Summary

Breast cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in women. Black women are less likely than white women to develop breast cancer but, they are more likely to die of the disease. Some of this survival discrepancy is likely due to underuse of adjuvant therapies proven to increase survival. Breast cancer treatment often requires coordination among surgeons, pathologists, primary care physicians, medical and radiation oncologists. In NYC, black and Hispanic women who accessed care and underwent surgical treatment of their breast cancer were twice as likely as whites to experience underuse of adjuvant treatment. Disturbingly, 1/3 of these underuse cases were episodes in which the surgeon recommended treatment, the patient did not refuse and yet, care did not ensue. Underuse in such circumstances is attributable to system failures than to specific provider or patient factors. In this proposed randomized controlled trial, the investigators aim to test the effectiveness of a Tracking and Feedback (T\&F) registry innovation to increase rates of completed oncology consultation and reduce both underuse of needed adjuvant therapy and racial disparities in receipt of these treatments. The investigators also aim to assess the feasibility of implementing a T\&F Registry in these high-risk hospitals by evaluating implementation effectiveness for that innovation. The investigators have recruited 10 hospitals that serve large proportions of minority women with breast cancer. The investigators will randomize hospitals and aim to recruit 354 women with a new breast cancer, 177 per intervention arm. The investigators choose these "high risk" hospitals because they serve predominantly minority populations, and such hospitals have higher rates of the system failure cause of underuse, and particularly, the type of underuse targeted by our Tracking and Feedback Registry.

Interventions

• OTHER Tracking & Feedback