Topicus is part of the EU-TOPIA-EAST program. The overall goal of EU-TOPIA-EAST is to implement effective breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening programs in three sample countries in Eastern Europe (Georgia, Romania and Montenegro). Next to this we build capacity for the implementation of screening in other Eastern European and Mediterranean countries to reduce cancer in these countries and achieve equity of cancer care.
Workshop on barriers and opportunities of screening programs in Eastern Europe
Before we already visited Slovenia, Montenegro and Georgia. Recently, we were once again allowed to go to Slovenia to share and expand our knowledge here in a workshop where many Eastern European countries were invited. Our part of the program involved discussing crucial quality indicators and identifying and solving (possible) barriers to the implementation of a successful screening program. Delegates from many (Eastern) European countries, WHO and IARC, were present at this event. During various presentations and break-out sessions information was gained and exchanged with experts from the different countries. From our expertise in screening programs, we presented about setting up a screening registry and presented ideas on using IT to get (and keep) more participants involved in screening programs.
''The screening platform 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.''
Importance of a high-quality screening registry
In the Netherlands, all cancer screening programs are monitored using so-called Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The screening platform Topicus manages and maintains for this purpose in the Netherlands plays an important role in the creation of these KPIs, as this platform collects and provides the data for these parameters.
Many Eastern European countries lack a screening platform that keeps track of all these data. Thus, in many countries, this makes it difficult to precisely measure the effectiveness of screening programs. Which also makes it impossible to have a proper monitoring of the screening programs.
For a screening program to function well, it is very important to have a structured approach to data registration. Records will need 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 program to be monitored. Including, for example, participation rates, improvement in the general health of the population, and the cost of the program.
For proper monitoring, it is very important to use the right performance indicators, and to have these indicators unambiguously defined and described so that there is no doubt about how these indicators are established. These indicators can ultimately be used to adjust and improve a screening program, and then measure the effects of these changes again. Also, trends can be analyzed and predictions can be made as well, anticipating future developments.
Digital onboarding to increase participation on screening
In the Netherlands we have a national population register we can and may use as a basis for inviting participants. Due to various reasons, these registries are often not available in Eastern European countries. Instead of contacting participants, those countries should raise awareness of cancer screening in a different way so that participants sign up themselves. An important role here lies with the (local) general practitioner, 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 program. By 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 email, and eliminates the need for participant address information to reach participants.
From the population built up through digital onboarding within the screening platform, appropriate individuals 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 here is to jointly explore the rollout of this concept. This requires a cooperative role of governments and GPs; a nice topic for the next meeting of EUTOPIA-EAST!