Astellas and the Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators (AONN+) have announced a new collaboration to develop, standardize and validate an evidence-based, oncology navigation-specific Acuity Tool. When finalized, the tool will have the potential to determine the level of support cancer patients may need from their oncology team to help them better understand their disease, treatment options, and next steps, and to empower greater engagement in their care along their journey.
"The term patient acuity refers to a description of patient attributes that can be used to stratify care needs and navigation requirements," said AONN+'s Danelle Johnston, MSN, RN, ONN-CG, OCN, chief nursing officer and senior director of strategic planning and initiatives. "Once you have an accurate way to quantify and prioritize patients' needs, you can make predictions to aid in the allocation of resources. Navigation programs can incorporate this information into an "acuity system" to measure the effectiveness of navigation activities and to measure patient outcomes that are specifically related to navigation services."
Subscribe to our e-Newsletters
Stay up to date with the latest news, articles, and events. Plus, get special offers
from American Pharmaceutical Review – all delivered right to your inbox! Sign up now!
Navigators, ranging from nurses to social workers and other non-clinically trained individuals, have become an integral part of the multidisciplinary team guiding patients through their complex and burdensome personal cancer journey. A navigator's ability to assess patient needs at every stage of care, match needs with appropriate services, and mitigate barriers to care, can be enhanced and supported by the development of an acuity tool.
"Only when the needs of the patient can be quantified, can a practical method for allocating resources, measuring effectiveness and determining outcomes be defined. As such, a navigation-specific tool that will reliably assign acuity to any given patient is of paramount need," said Johnston. "We are thrilled to be collaborating with Astellas on this important project to fill a significant unmet need in the cancer community and identify a best practice for patient-centered care delivery."
"By supporting navigators through the collaborative development of an oncology acuity tool, we aim to benefit patients and the broader healthcare ecosystem," said Doug Noland, head of patient experience, executive director, Astellas US. "In the landscape of value-based care, navigators have the potential to influence the patient experience and clinical outcomes through patient-centric navigation approaches, which may drive cost efficiencies while improving outcomes."
The Acuity Tool is targeted for release by end of 2019 and will be based on AONN+'s previous standardization work in 2017 to introduce 35 evidence-based navigation metrics. Other aspects of the collaboration will include bringing together subject matter experts and other oncology leaders as a taskforce to enable the tool to be scaled to all levels of healthcare organizations, by all types of navigators and at all points in the cancer care continuum.
"The Patient Experience Organization within Astellas is dedicated to understanding patient needs and driving improved patient outcomes through collaborative projects with organizations who share similar aspirations and have the potential to deliver lasting effects for patients," said Noland. "This collaboration with AONN+ will help advance our effort to be on the forefront of health care change by turning innovative science into meaningful value for patients beyond the medicines we innovate and bring to market."