Use of a Novel Statistical Technique to Examine the Delivery of Breast Cancer Follow-up Care by Different Types of Oncology Providers

摘要

Rationale, aims and objectivesFrequent follow-up is recommended for the more than 3 million breast cancer survivors living in the U.S. Given the multidisciplinary nature of breast cancer treatment, follow-up may be provided by medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, surgeons, and primary care providers. This creates the potential for significant redundancy as well as gaps in care. The objective was to examine patterns of breast cancer follow-up provided by different types of oncologists and develop a statistical means of quantifying visit distribution over time.