David Hui|Annie Titus|Tiffany Curtis|Vivian Trang Ho-Nguyen|Delisa Frederickson|Curtis J. Wray|Tenisha Granville|Éduardo Bruera|Donna K. McKee|Alyssa G. Rieber
Implementation of the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System for Symptom Distress Screening at a Community Cancer Center: A Pilot Program
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center|Harris Health System|Harris Health System|Harris Health System|Harris Health System|Harris Health System|The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center|Harris Health System|The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
distress screening mandated american college surgeons commission cancer however limited literature impact actual practice examined impact pilot distress screening program access psychosocial careedmonton symptom assessment system esas screening routinely conducted communitybased medical oncology program patients screened positive severe distress sent social worker triage referred appropriate services indicated compared proportion patients esas completed proportion patients screened positive number patients social work assessment palliative care consultation preimplementation september 2015 training octobernovember 2015 postimplementation december 2015 periodsa total 379 328 465 cancer patients included preimplementation training postimplementation periods respectively proportion patients completed esas increased time 83 vs 91 vs 96 among patients completed esas 11 13 positive severe distress remained stable three periods observed significant increase social work referrals psychosocial assessment 21 vs 71 vs 79 also trend towards increased number palliative care referrals 12 vs 20 vs 28our communitybased cancer center implemented distress screening rapidly resourcelimited setting notable increase symptom documentation psychosocial referralthe american college surgeons commission cancer mandates distress screening however limited literature process implemented impact clinical practice used edmonton symptom assessment system routine symptom distress screening communitybased medical oncology program provides care underserved population comparing program implementation found increase number documentations symptom burden increase psychosocial referrals findings study may inform implementation routine symptom distress screening cancer patients