Curious about Telemedicine and Cancer Diagnostics?
February 13, 2023 · Andy Reynolds
Are you a health care provider interested in improving the diagnostic process for lung, breast, and colorectal cancer in the telemedicine environment?
If so, consider joining a telemedicine safety program organized by our colleagues at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
Participating providers will:
- Learn best practices for closing the loop at critical points in the diagnostic process for breast, colorectal, and lung cancer in the telemedicine environment.
- Prepare to serve larger patient volumes using telemedicine.
- Enhance teamwork and communication.
- Improve patient safety.
How It Works
This free program:
- Combines evidence-based guidance with implementation strategies to improve the diagnostic process.
- Offers providers technical assistance, coaching, webinars and tools to help you make sustainable improvements.
- Runs for 18 months, starting this summer.
To be eligible, organizations should be or have:
- Adult and family primary care clinics, gynecology practices, community base healthcare clinics, federally qualified health centers or urgent care clinics.
- An established telemedicine environment.
- 12 or more abnormal lung, breast, or colorectal cancer screenings or diagnoses per year.
Visit the program site to learn more.
The NCQA View
Getting an accurate cancer diagnosis can be hard. Testing must be timely, handoffs need to go right and there are plenty of chances for missed or delayed diagnoses.
Our work on telehealth, including recommendations from our Taskforce on Telehealth Policy, make us think that telehealth may help.
We applaud AHRQ’s efforts to study and improve cancer diagnostics in telehealth settings.
If you meet the program criteria, why not participate? Attend an informational webinar to find out more.
