Models of care toolkit

Cancer care networks

Equitable distribution of care and efficiency of delivery is impacted by how cancer services are organized between and within cancer centres. Multidisciplinary clinics and cancer care networks are becoming more prevalent in Canada and internationally and help to improve the efficient organization of resources and delivery of person-centred care.

Often focused on a single disease site, multidisciplinary cancer clinics are typically located at a single centre and bring together clinicians from multiple specialities, including allied health, with a focus on providing the full complement of care and services. Multidisciplinary disease site clinics focus on person-centred care and enable all team members to work to their full scope of practice.

Identifying the best cancer network models

Patients benefit from the wide range of clinical expertise available at the centre, however the lack of coordination can negatively affect patients. The traditional model of care is structured around a single specialty (e.g., medical or radiation oncology, surgery, etc.) and can result in patients having to return for multiple cancer centre visits and a duplication of consultations. This can lead to a general sense that “my care team doesn’t seem to be working together.” This lack of coordination disproportionately affects people impacted by social determinants of health.¹

Cancer networks can take many forms; however, they are commonly organized for a specific disease site and connect two or more centres that share clinical expertise, resources, and services. Networks provide a structure for staff to work more closely across jurisdictions, institutions, and professional boundaries. They are often organized as centres of excellence or have expertise centralized at one centre with access shared across several centres in an area.

Organizing specialized care in this way helps support the flow of expertise and best practice and improves the quality of and access to care for patients, including those who require coordination of care across various settings.² This type of coordination can be particularly useful when care is coordinated in rural and remote areas or across provincial and territorial boundaries.

Together with partners and the cancer community, the Partnership worked to identify network and clinic models that have the potential to enhance access to specialized services for patients regardless of where they live. These include network models and multidisciplinary clinics, along with voluntary, unstructured approaches such as communities of practice and information networks.