EHR-Based Key Performance Indicators and Dashboard for Patient Navigation

Abstract: Kentucky has the highest cancer incidence and mortality rates in the U.S. Cancer patients and their families face significant barriers to care. Cancer navigation— personalized assistance for patients, caregivers, and families to overcome system barriers to quality care—is an emerging and promising approach to improving cancer outcomes. Cancer providers are eager to implement navigation services, especially with newly available reimbursement and billing codes from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. However, real-world evidence based on standardized metrics and data collection is needed to assess the efficacy and drive continuous improvement of these services. Our project aims to address this gap by responding to the Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators (AONN+) call for proposals to develop tools for tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) in cancer navigation. We will conduct informant interviews and focus groups with cancer providers who have established navigation programs to identify best practices for extracting navigation metrics from electronic health records (EHRs). Next, we will pilot-test data extraction methods, construct key metrics, and evaluate their validity and reliability. We will then work with stakeholders to co-create an online dashboard to generate and visualize these KPIs. The resulting framework will support implementation and continuous improvement of cancer navigation services.