Introduction
Coordination of care involves a comprehensive approach to achieving continuity of care for patients. This approach seeks to ensure that care is delivered in a logical, connected and timely manner so that the medical and personal needs of the patient are met. (Victorian Government)
Coordination of care for people with cancer requires linkages and effective communication:
- between different types of treatment (surgery, medical oncology, radiation oncology etc)
- between cancer care providers both within their own profession and from different professional backgrounds (medical specialists, general practitioners, nurses, allied health professionals, psychologists etc)
- within a single service provider and between different services and settings (public and private, primary and tertiary, rural and metropolitan)
- across the entire spectrum of cancer care from detection, through treatment to palliative care (NSIF).