Situation
Neuroendocrine tumors (NET) are a particularly difficult type of cancer to detect and treat.
According to a 2011 study, NET disease is misdiagnosed in more than 8 out of every 10 cases and 58% of patients with NET disease aren’t diagnosed until the cancer reaches an advanced stage. By that point, the cancer has likely spread to a level in which the five-year survival rate among patients is dramatically lower.
Even after the cancer is correctly identified, the diagnosis journey is complex leaving patients often wondering ‘what’s next.’ Also, disease awareness is lacking, and the referral network for this specialty disease is not well established. Treatment is also often costly, meaning that many patients are not able to afford it. In effort to change this reality for patients in the UAE, one company whose portfolio included a critical treatment for NET patients set out to find a partner to design a solution to these critical challenges.
Solution
Axios was tasked with developing and implementing a program that would improve patient awareness of NET and potential symptoms, expedite diagnosis, and improve access to treatment:
Shortening Time to Confirmed Diagnosis Through Patient and Physician Education
The program aimed to improve education and awareness throughout the healthcare system in the UAE – including patients and healthcare providers – so patients suffering from specific signs and symptoms associated with NET disease could be expedited to a quicker diagnosis. Improved awareness could also minimize the misdiagnoses often common with the disease.
Helping Patients Overcome Potential Barriers
What makes Axios unique is its focus on customizing interventions to meet the individualized needs of each patient. In partnership with relevant stakeholders, the program supports and guides the suspected patients through their diagnosis journey by providing frequent follow up calls and reminders, helping them determine the correct specialist to see, and providing financial support for CgA testing and treatment where needed. Axios and its partners also follow up with insurance companies on behalf of the patient to minimize false rejections and to keep the diagnosis process moving at the necessary, urgent pace.
Results
The program has been shown to improve disease awareness among all healthcare stakeholders. The increased attention the program has created for NET disease has helped to speed up the diagnosis process and positively impacted the NET diagnosis rate in the UAE — particularly in the pivotal early stages of the disease.
