Oncology social work outreach as a predictor of oncology appointment completion among cancer patients with transportation needs.

Abstract

e13525 Background: Cancer patients typically have multiple treatment and evaluation appointments throughout their cancer therapy. Missing just one appointment could negatively impact or delay a patient’s treatment trajectory, and the challenges and impacts compound the more frequently a patient is scheduled for treatment 1 . Access to reliable transportation is imperative to support frequent oncology appointments and subsequently treatment adherence, yet it is the most prevalent barrier cancer patients face 2 . At our NCI-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, patients across seven treatment locations are assessed for transportation needs and other access barriers via a Health-related Social Needs screen (HRSNS) shortly after beginning cancer therapy. Oncology social workers (OSW) then outreach patients with identified needs. Transportation interventions by OSW may include transportation subsidies, travel vouchers, and rideshare programs. Methods: We examined the cancer patients with a transportation need identified on their HRSNS (n = 298) in 2025 and determined if an OSW outreached the patient to assist with transport needs. We then compared the average completion rate of scheduled oncology appointments (office visits, infusion visits, telehealth, procedures) among patients with a documented OSW outreach and those without. Completion rate is the percentage of completed appointments among all oncology appointments scheduled within the calendar year. Results: This subset of patients had between one and 149 scheduled oncology appointments in 2025, with an average of 20 scheduled appointments per patient. The results of the paired t-test analysis showed a significant difference between the mean values of appointment completion rate among patients with a social work outreach (n = 68, x̄=0.74) and those without (n = 230, x̄ =0.68), with a corresponding p-value of 0.046. Conclusions: Cancer transportation needs interfere with a cancer patient’s ability to keep oncology appointments, but interventions by OSW may increase a patient’s ability to keep scheduled oncology appointments.