[Waiting time in lung cancer care. Patient guides provided faster flow]

The work-up process for lung cancer patients consists of several steps from suspicion of malignant disease to start of treatment. Delays between these steps should be minimized. Data in the Swedish National Lung Cancer Register show that the work-up times for lung cancer patients vary greatly between different counties in central Sweden. In order to reduce delays, a trial of implementing patient guides (Sw: patientlotsar) for patients referred to the hospital was conducted. When comparing the work-up times before and after implementation of patient guides the median waiting time from suspicion of lung cancer to start of treatment in the region was reduced from 71 to 45 days. Furthermore, the duration of most of the steps in the work-up process were shortened despite more complex investigation procedures, e.g. increased use of PET/CT in the guided patient group.