Enhancing Provider Education and Improving Healthcare Disparities in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) and Multiple Myeloma (MM) through a Rural Regional North Carolina Hospital Network

The main goal of this initiative is to ensure competency for physicians and nurses to provide state of the art care to patients with hematologic malignancies throughout eastern North Carolina.

Objectives include:

1) Expand provider knowledge of current national guidelines for diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of CML and MM related to ordering, interpreting and implementing cytogenetic and molecular biomarker results.

2) Expand Nursing Education
a. Provide nursing education specifically related the 2013 Oncology Nursing Society (ONS/American Society of Oncology (ASCO) guidelines for chemotherapy, including the appropriate storage, administration, handling and disposal of medications.)
b. Provide nursing education about the latest molecular markers and diagnostic tests available to further ensure that appropriate tests are obtained for diagnosis and monitoring of therapy. 

3) Patient education and assessment of compliance
a. Improve patient education about their specific hematologic malignancy and the expected outcomes as well as potential side effects of therapies. Improve patient compliance with complex regimens which frequently include oral medications where compliance is very important to achieving the best clinical outcome and identify barriers to compliance.