Leveraging technology to facilitate distress screening

195 Background: Research has shown cancer patients are at increased risk for distress during their cancer treatment. Distress screening is required for cancer programs seeking accreditation from the American College of Surgeons, Commission on Cancer and certification from the American Society of Clinical Oncology Quality Oncology Practice Initiative. Developing a successful distress screening program is essential for cancer programs. Methods: The purpose of this project was to create a comprehensive distress screening program utilizing the electronic health record (EHR) to identify patients requiring screening and document interventions. A multidisciplinary team was established to develop a distress screening process for our cancer program. The team developed a screening tool based on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Distress Thermometer. The distress screening tool was built into the EHR. An alert was created to notify staff at visit check-in to provide the distress screening tool. Once completed, the score and any areas of distress indicated by the patient are entered into the EHR by the medical assistant. When a score is documented, the nurse case manager (CM) receives a “Distress Score” alert when accessing the patient’s chart, indicating the need for nursing review. The CM reviews the score, assesses patient needs and documents any needed interventions or referrals. A specific score does not require a specific intervention, rather the CM is required to determine the needs of the individual patient and take appropriate action. Results: In 2015, 8069 patients were offered distress screening with 13,527 distress screenings completed. This resulted in 629 referrals to social work. 803 distress screens had a score of seven or greater (6%). Conclusions: The multidisciplinary team continues to evaluate the process and make changes. Auditing reveals compliance with documenting a distress score of 95% or greater across all oncology areas and review by the CM of at least 93% on a consistent basis. In many instances, the physician and/or the CM address distress related to the patient’s disease or symptom management. Use of the EHR has facilitated the workflow and allowed information to be visible to the care team.