13 januari 2024
Topicus is part of the EU-TOPIA-EAST programme. The overall goal of EU-TOPIA-EAST is to implement effective screening programmes for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer in three sample countries in Eastern Europe (Georgia, Romania and Montenegro). It is also working on building capacity to implement screening in other Eastern European and Mediterranean countries, to reduce cancer in these countries and achieve equity of care with regard to cancer.
Previously, we were guests of Slovenia, Montenegro and Georgia. Recently, we got to go to Slovenia again to share and expand our knowledge here in a workshop to which many Eastern European countries were invited. Our part of the programme involved discussing crucial quality indicators and identifying and solving (potential) barriers to implementing a successful screening programme. Present at this event were delegates from many (Eastern) European countries, WHOand IARC. During various presentations and break-out sessions, information was gained and exchanged with experts from the different countries. From our expertise in screening programmes, we gave presentations on setting up a screening registry and presented ideas on using IT to get (and keep) more participants involved in screening programmes.
‘’The screening platform that Topicus manages and maintains in the Netherlands for this purpose plays an important role in the creation of these KPIs, as this platform collects and provides the data for these parameters.‘’
Gerwin Prins Consultant International Screening, Topicus Healthcare
In the Netherlands, all cancer screening programmes are monitored using so-called Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The screening platform that Topicus manages and maintains for this purpose in the Netherlands plays an important role in the creation of these KPIs, as it collects and provides the data for these parameters.
Many Eastern European countries lack a screening platform that keeps track of all these data. This therefore makes it difficult to precisely measure the effectiveness of screening programmes in many countries. Which also makes it impossible to have proper monitoring of screening programmes.
For a functioning screening programme, it is very important to have a structured approach to data registration. Records will have to be kept of who was screened when and what the results of this screening were. Ultimately, this will allow the effectiveness of a screening programme to be monitored, including, for example, the participation rate, the improvement in the general health of the population and the cost of the programme.
For good monitoring, it is very important to use the right performance indicators, and to have unambiguously defined and described these indicators so that there is no doubt about how these indicators are established. These indicators can ultimately be used to adjust and improve a screening programme, and then measure the effects of these changes again. Trends can also be analysed and predictions can also be made, anticipating future developments.
In the Netherlands, we have a national population register that we can and should use as a basis for inviting participants. Due to various reasons, these registers are often not available in Eastern European countries. Instead of contacting participants, those countries should raise awareness of cancer screening in another way, so that participants sign up themselves. An important role here lies with the (local) GP as ‘mouthpiece’ to the population, where in the Netherlands the process is centrally managed and coordinated and also highly automated.
Besides the lack of a complete population register, in many Eastern European countries contact details are also not up to date due to many changes of address. This makes it extra difficult to invite people and keep track of them over time.
To still be able to reach the target group for screening and also keep in touch over the years, Topicus has been working on a solution over the past year; digital onboarding.
Digital onboarding means that participants can digitally register themselves to participate in a screening programme. In doing so, participants fill in their own data. This gradually builds up the target population to be screened in a country, communicates via app or e-mail and eliminates the need for participants' address details to reach participants.
From the population built up through digital onboarding within the screening platform, the right people can then be selected and invited. Communication then occurs digitally where participants can also be informed about results or follow-up actions, for example.
The possibilities of digital onboarding and interaction were received with enthusiasm by the Eastern European countries. And the next step in this is to jointly explore the roll-out of this concept. This requires a cooperative role of governments and GPs; a great topic for the next meeting of EUTOPIA-EAST!
Hoe slimmere IT-oplossingen gezondheidsonderzoeken op de middelbare school verbeteren.
