A mobile app to reduce treatment-related financial burden for cancer patients

There is a fundamental knowledge gap in how to immediately reduce cancer patientsandapos treatment related financial burden Cancer patients pay more out of pocket for their care than those with other chronic illnesses Half of all elderly cancer patients have high treatment related out of pocket financial burden This financial burden has well defined harmful effects even among insured cancer patients including worsened quality of life more than double the risk of bankruptcy and cancer treatment non adherence Hence continued existence of this knowledge gap presents a widespread public health problem As such the study team has developed and demonstrated preliminary effectiveness of a theory based online intervention called PAPNavigator Patient Assistance Program Navigator a commercially available interactive tool designed to help financial counselors defray patientsandapos out of pocket costs However in busy cancer centers financial counselors do not see most patients until patients have incurred medical debt Hence the objective of this Fast Track application is to develop an innovative patient facing mobile app Bridge that works with PAPNavigator to facilitate financial assistance The central hypothesis is that Bridge will decrease financial burden primary outcome To test this hypothesis in Phase I we will modify PAPNavigator to be usable directly by patients and evaluate the variantandapos s usability and feasibility among cancer patients In Phase II we will develop a mobile app Bridge to help patients plan their expenses during treatment identify assistance programs and coordinate with a financial counselor We will conduct a randomized controlled trial to compare Bridge to standard of care financial assistance Outcomes will be assessed with the following specific aims Phase I specific aims Modify PAPNavigator to be usable directly by cancer patients creating a patient facing variant Test the usability and feasibility of the patient facing variant of PAPNavigator in cancer patients Phase II specific aims Develop a comprehensive mobile app Bridge that accurately estimates expenses during treatment and helps patients accurately identify financial assistance Determine the impact of Bridge on reducing patient out of pocket cost primary outcome Determine the impact of Bridge on patient knowledge of financial resources quality of life and subjective financial distress secondary outcomes This study is significant because it focuses on financial burden an unaddressed but widespread problem among cancer patients The proposed research is innovative because it is the first to intervene on cancer patientsandapos financial burden Bridge has significant commercial potential and offers a compelling value proposition to stakeholders including patients drug manufacturers and patient assistance foundations A large proportion of cancer patients are at risk of experiencing treatment related financial burden that worsens their quality of life and prevents them from receiving the best cancer treatment possible The proposed research is relevant to public health because it proposes a novel method to reduce cancer patientsandapos financial burden by improving patient access to financial assistance programs As such this project is immediately relevant to the NIHandapos s mission to reduce the burdens of illness and improve the quality of care delivery