The Centralized Tracking and Management of Incidental Lung Nodule Findings

This is the fourth blog post in a 6-part series recognizing the achievements of the 2024 ACCC Innovator Award winners before their in-depth sessions at the ACCC 41st National Oncology Conference. You can learn more about the innovations being recognized this year and those who pioneered them by joining ACCC in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from October 9-11, 2024.

Incidental findings refer to discoveries unrelated to the primary concern that brought a patient into a health care organization for care. A 2010 study found that 40% of all radiology scans conducted in the United States reveal these findings, and 1 in 20 of those abnormalities are considered high-risk.

Understanding this landscape, University of Colorado Cancer Center created a community-wide safety net for the centralized tracking and management of incidental lung nodule findings. This approach led to a 2,514% increase in their actively managed patients. To alleviate the strain of this rise on patient navigation staff, the cancer center uses enterprise intelligence software to automatically analyze imaging results of patients who received care at UCHealth and identify and stratify those with high-risk findings. This technology ultimately allowed the cancer center to review more patients in a timely manner and reduce patient wait time from 34 days to 5 days.

This solution earned the cancer center a 2024 Association of Cancer Care Centers (ACCC) Innovator Award. Looking ahead to the ACCC 41^st National Oncology Conference this fall, ACCCBuzz spoke to Nina Thomas, MD, director, Thoracic Malignancy Pillar of Center for Lung and Breathing, University of Colorado – UCHealth, University of Colorado Cancer Center, assistant professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, to learn more about their center.  

ACCCBuzz: How long has University of Colorado Cancer Center been an ACCC member?

Dr. Thomas: We have been members since 2003.

ACCCBuzz: What is your favorite part of being an ACCC member?

Dr. Thomas: ACCC offers us the opportunity to connect with and learn from other cancer centers. We can get feedback on potential projects to collaborate on and ultimately improve overall comprehensive cancer care and health inequities.

ACCCBuzz: What makes your cancer center unique?

Dr. Thomas: We have a multidisciplinary group with a shared mission to provide comprehensive but also personalized care from start to finish in a patient’s journey. From screening and detection, to treatment, and even survivorship. We have representation from so many different arenas to provide personalized care for the patients and engage the community.

ACCCBuzz: How have these traits helped you win this award

Dr. Thomas: In the last couple years, our leadership in the cancer center has shown a dedication to earlier detection and screening for lung cancer, and innovative ways to connect with the community. They were the ones that connected us with multiple disciplines within our community to have success with an initiative like this.

ACCCBuzz: ACCC president Nadine J. Barrett, PhD, MA, MS, centered her theme on Reimagining Community Engagement and Equity in Cancer. What does that look like to your program?

Dr. Thomas: Our innovation helps us engage the community proactively, instead of waiting for patients to be referred to us from their primary care [provider]. This ensures that patients do not fall through the cracks, which is what we saw with incidental lung cancer findings. Patients were not getting the appropriate engagement from their providers, and this impacted their ability to get seen in a timely manner. For patients who have poor access to care, that maybe just see us through the emergency department, it helps us engage them instead of waiting for them to come back to the ER [emergency room] with late-stage cancer.

ACCCBuzz: What can attendees expect from your session at the ACCC 41st National Oncology Conference?

Dr. Thomas: They can expect an inside look into the process of developing a robust but efficient tracking system. One that leverages intelligent software to identify and track incidental findings and improve the early detection of lung cancer. Attendees will also learn some of the challenges we encountered along the way because every process like this has them. I will also discuss our outcomes and future endeavors.