Timely Delivery of Care and the Optimal Care Pathway for People With Colorectal Cancer: A Scoping Review

The "Optimal care pathway for people with colorectal cancer" (CRC OCP) was published to provide Australian clinicians with a framework to deliver high-quality, timely care to patients; however, it is unknown whether this has affected outcomes across Australia. This review aimed to identify and summarize the available literature on concordance with the CRC OCP. A literature search was conducted across six databases. Articles were included if they reported CRC OCP timelines to measure diagnosis and delivery of care, or reported barriers or facilitators to implementation of the CRC OCP for timely diagnosis and care in Australia. Of the 631 articles screened, 12 articles met the inclusion criteria. Aspects of the pathway assessed had variable concordance. The articles included qualitative and/or qualitative analyses of CRC OCP concordance, variously reporting the impact of direct-access colonoscopy clinics, time intervals, rates of CRC OCP adherence, and the influence of patient and healthcare system factors. The limited number of articles in this review and variable results may suggest the CRC OCP is yet to be integrated nationally.