Timeliness of access to lung cancer diagnosis and treatment: A scoping literature review

The Institute of Medicine recently called for increased understanding of and commitment to timely care. Lung cancer can be difficult to diagnose, resulting in delays that may adversely affect survival; rapid diagnosis and treatment therefore is critical for enabling improved patient outcomes. This scoping review provides an update on timeliness of lung cancer care over the past decade. We searched PubMed for English-language articles published from 2007 to 2016 that report wait time intervals related to diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer. Two authors independently reviewed titles and abstracts for inclusion. Abstracted data included sample size, patient population, study type, dates of study, wait times, and information on disparities, survival, costs, healthcare utilization, and interventions. The final review included 65…