This study has great potential to reduce the burden of cancer on individuals and healthcare systems. People affected by cancer (PTC) receive care from multiple specialties in different locations and numerous simultaneous or delayed interventions. They suffer from professional and organizational silos. The result is undue delays in access, unmet needs, sub-optimal care experience and clinical outcomes, as well as human and financial costs for PTCs and healthcare systems. Networking is advocated by national cancer programs in many countries, including Canada, as a means of coordinating actions to overcome fragmentation. These networks promise to create value in the form of better clinical outcomes and experiences for every dollar invested. Variations in network results and the factors behind them are documented. However, the actions of all healthcare stakeholders towards a common goal are little studied and still poorly understood. The Réseau de cancérologie du Québec offers an opportunity to better understand how governance works in the natural environment.

This study aims to analyze how, why, by whom, for whom and under what conditions the actions of the network as a whole contribute to transforming clinical and management practices and producing value-added effects for PTCs and the healthcare system. To do this, the team will hear the voices of various stakeholders through interviews and questionnaires. They will also analyze the costs associated with using the services. This project will produce unprecedented information that can be rapidly used by network managers to guide decisions towards optimized health outcomes, while reducing the economic toxicity of cancer.