Coordinated Care in Oncology

Coordinated patient care (disease management) has become one of the main topics of discussion in the Polish health care system. The experience drawn from international practices helped to create a basis for managing the process of treatment. Nevertheless, there is still a strong need for changes in the Polish healthcare. The article presents the management of oncological patients within the existing Package of Oncology. The assumptions of this consideration involve the analysis of oncology queue system solutions and their impact on the patients care. The analysis shows that it is difficult to conclude about the effectiveness and cost of the clinical oncology package within the framework of coordination of patient care due to the lack of relevant data at the time of its implementation. Having been subjected to constructive criticism, the oncology package is currently in the phase of changes. The question remains to what extent the criteria for amendment of the reform are important from clinical, social and the payer’s point of view. Moreover, one should not forget about the main assumptions of coordinated cancer care, which are: immediate diagnosis and fast introduction of effective treatment.