Studying the Continuum of Cancer Care through Linking Primary Data

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  Research Project Leader
  Professor Jon Emery

  jon.emery@unimelb.edu.au

  View researcher's webpage

  +61 3 8559 7044

Project Details

Currently, it is not possible in the health care system to link the detailed patient data from General Practice to hospital or registry data for cancer patients. Consequently, the care given to cancer patients by General Practitioners and other primary health care professionals is unseen by other health services. Primary care is increasingly recognised as playing a key role across the cancer care continuum, with general practice the main entry point into the health system for cancer patients.

In collaboration with the Health and Biomedical Informatics Centre at the University of Melbourne and the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC), this project will conduct the first large-scale, comprehensive data linkage of detailed primary care, hospital and registry data for Victorian cancer patients. The VCCC Cancer Health Data Platform is being built to provide an innovative and responsive data strategy to enhance cancer health services research capability with the aim of improving cancer care and patient outcomes.

Using the VCCC Cancer Health Data Platform, this project will investigate primary care across the cancer journey, including diagnosis, during acute treatment and follow-up survivorship care.

This program will investigate time to diagnosis for Victorian cancer patients as well as the use and availability of specific pre-diagnostic tests in primary care. It will also quantify primary care use, including the role of GP’s in symptom management, factors associated with GP visits during cancer treatment and patterns of care provided to cancer survivors. This research will provide evidence to inform health and cancer services to stimulate changes in practice and service delivery throughout the cancer journey for patients.

Researchers

Professor Jon Emery, Herman Professor of Primary Care Cancer Research

Professor Maarten IJzerman, Chair of Cancer Health Services Research

Frances Martin, PhD student

Collaborators

Professor Karin M. Verspoor, School of Computing and Information Systems, University of Melbourne

Associate Professor Douglas Boyle, Health and Biomedical Informatics Centre, University of Melbourne

Professor Grant McArthur, Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC)

Dr Meredith Layton, Head of Research Development, Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC)

Maureen Turner, CEO BioGrid Australia

Funding

BUPA Health Foundation Grant