Tang 2021
Year: 2021
Title: Health Equity Within Inequity: Timing of Diagnostic Breast Cancer Care in an Underserved Medical Population
Country: United States
Age: Adult Only
Sex: Female
Population: Multiple Groups
Care Setting: Outpatient Ambulatory and Primary Care
Clinical Setting: Breast Cancer Screening
Data Level: Single Institution
Data Type: EHR
Data Source: Local data
Conclusion: No Disparities Based on Patient Race/Ethnicity
Health OutComes Reported: Yes
Mitigation: No
Free Text Conclusion: There was no differential delivery of screening by race. There was no significant difference between racial groups and stage of presentation.
Abstract: BACKGROUND/AIM: We evaluated timeliness of care at a safety-net hospital after implementation of a multidisciplinary breast program. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective database of patients with breast cancer was created after multidisciplinary breast program initiation in 2018. Patients were tracked to obtain time to completion of diagnostic imaging, biopsy, and treatment initiation. Patients with breast cancer diagnosed from 2015-2017 were reviewed for comparison. RESULTS: A total of 102 patients were identified. There was no statistical difference in time to completion of imaging, biopsy, and initial treatment between the 2018 and the 2015-2017 cohorts (p>0.05). No statistical difference was observed in time to completion of imaging, biopsy, and initial treatment between different races (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Within the same socioeconomic status, there was no differential delivery of screening, work-up, and treatment by race. Despite protocol implementations, efficiency of care remained limited in a safety-net hospital with lack of financial resources.