Regional care chain in the management of breast tumour patients in South-West Finland

Abstract There are national guidelines for the diagnostics and treatment of breast cancer in Finland. A care chain description was needed to offer high-quality services for the management of breast tumour patients in the South-West Finland hospital district. A taskforce for breast tumour management was formed with representatives from four primary healthcare centres, the mammography screening centre, local hospitals, and the oncology, pathology, radiology and surgery departments at the Turku University Hospital. The taskforce agreed on time limits within which each diagnostic procedure and treatment should be offered. The healthcare providers agreed on their liabilities. The care chain description was created in order to secure patient care at the right time at the right place with minimal delay. These management guidelines were implemented on the intranets of the healthcare providers. These regional guidelines were linked with national diagnostic and treatment guidelines and recommendations. Based on this work, an online audit system for the breast tumour guidelines is planned as a pilot study for the evaluation of the hospital district's VARSAT Data Warehouse project, consisting of the process indicators, clinical quality indicators, and the cost-effectiveness of the process.