Improving Care Management for Kapiʻolani Women's Center BIRADS 3 Patients

Abstract

Breast cancer is a common cancer among women. Appropriate screening and monitoring are necessary for early detection and treatment to improve survival rates. Due to barriers to care, many women do not follow up with their screening in a timely manner. As the Kapi`olani Women’s Center (KWC) had inconsistent follow up and no facility established guidelines for pre-scheduling and educating patients with Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BIRADS) category 3 results, this quality improvement project was developed to improve care management for KWC BIRADS 3 patients through patient navigation, utilizing an evidence-based scheduling and reminder system, and motivational interviewing techniques. Barriers to care were also identified and addressed. Findings indicated potential positive impacts in increasing timely follow up and decreasing no show occurrences as two post-intervention months had significant findings and achieved intermediate outcomes; however, extension of implementation timeline, designation of staff responsibilities, and facility infrastructure adjustments were advised.