EOM Lung Patient Pilot Associated With Reduced Emergency Care Utilization
Key Takeaways:
- The Enhancing Oncology Model (EOM) Lung Patient Pilot, a nurse outreach program, projected a $2.6 million reduction in medical costs due to less health care utilization.
- Patients who received outreach had lower rates of emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations compared to patients who did not receive outreach.
- Patients reported high satisfaction with the program, with 72% receiving Advanced Care Planning support in addition to outreach calls.
Commercial health plans measure reductions in unnecessary ED visits and hospitalizations among oncology practices, which can generate savings in health care spending.
Texas Oncology (TXO) implemented a nurse outreach program, the EOM Lung Patient Pilot, in September 2024 to help reduce ED visits and hospital admissions among patients with metastatic lung cancer.
Program Guidelines
Researchers used the APEX report to select patients for outreach. Registered nurses conducted outreach calls weekly to every 4 weeks, based on patient needs and treatment schedule.
Patients were disenrolled from the program after meeting any of the following criteria:
- Death or hospice
- Transfer of care outside TXO or decision to stop treatment
- End of EOM episode
- Unresponsive to phone calls after 5 attempts
Reduced Emergency Care Utilization
Patients who received outreach had fewer ED visits and hospital admissions than those who did not receive outreach. The reduced utilization was associated with an estimated $2.6 million savings in care costs.
Among the patients who received outreach, 72% also received Advanced Care Planning support. The program garnered high patient satisfaction, with many reporting gratitude for the outreach.
Implications for Oncology Care
The EOM Lung Patient Pilot was associated with reduced emergency care utilization among patients with metastatic lung cancer, indicating the potential of nurse outreach to improve outcomes and lower care costs.
According to the authors, “This may serve as a scalable approach to improving outcomes in other high-risk oncology populations.”
Reference
Jensen TL, Escudier SM, Books H, Pearson L, Jenkins K. Lung cancer navigation pilot: preliminary results of nurse outreach support for lung cancer patients enrolled in the EOM. J Clin Oncol. 2026;44(16):e13580. doi:10.1200/JCO.2026.44.16_suppl.e13580
