Consultation models in psychosocial oncology.

PURPOSE

Best practice regarding screening for cancer-related distress includes timely follow-up with psychosocial services to address identified needs. Cancer centers frequently struggle to identify distress via systematized, low-burden workflows and link patients to high-quality, evidenced-based care. Models of psychological and psychiatric consultation can address several known challenges of attending to patient and provider need and can be designed with varying resources and levels of integration. Consultation can be offered in inpatient and outpatient settings and function independently or within existing supportive care departments.

METHODS

This review summarizes four models of consultation including 1) inpatient psychological consultation, 2) outpatient psychological consultation, 3) integrated and tiered psychiatric consultation, and 4) integration of behavioral health providers into subspecialty teams. We present data on utilization of each model, as well as patient clinical outcomes and satisfaction measures and provider satisfaction.

RESULTS

Consultation models are utilized and offer an effective approach to optimizing timely and accessible care. Utilizing this model of care between July 2020 and June 2021, we managed more than 1200 inpatient referrals for consultation and responded to more than 1600 outpatients with positive distress screens. Programs should consider strengths and limitations of implementing consultation models, with an emphasis on available staffing and institutional investment in supportive care for cancer survivors.