Alignment with Indices of A Care Pathway Is Associated with Improved Survival: An Observational Population-based Study in Colon Cancer Patients

Abstract

Background: Causes of variations in outcomes from cancer care in developed countries are often unclear. Australia has developed health system pathways describing consensus standards of optimal cancer care across the phases of prevention through to follow-up or end-of-life. These Optimal Care Pathways (OCP) were introduced from 2013 to 14. We investigated whether care consistent with the OCP improved outcomes for colon cancer patients. Methods: Colon patients diagnosed from 2008 to 2014 were identified from the Australian State of Victoria Cancer Registry (VCR) and cases linked with State and Federal health datasets. Surrogate variables describe OCP alignment in our cohort, across three phase..