What is a lung Diagnostic Assessment Program (DAP)?
The lung DAP is a joint program with Grand River Regional Cancer Centre and St. Mary’s General Hospital. It is a service that organizes your care using a nurse and clerical navigator. The lung DAP is designed to shorten wait times for Waterloo Wellington region patients who might have lung cancer.
The goal of the lung DAP team is to help patients:
- Navigate the health care system
- Get booked for lung assessments
- Get a diagnosis as quickly as possible
The lung DAP helps to limit how many doctor visits and appointments you will have.
The lung DAP offers support to patients, families and care partners. The nurse navigator will assess you and offer you physical/emotional support.
Who is on the Lung DAP care team?
The regional lung DAP team has a team of 4 health care professionals to help you. You might see some, or all, of our team members based on your need.
Our team includes a:
| Nurse Navigator | A Registered Nurse (RN) who helps to guide you from your first appointment to your treatment. They help to support you, advocate for you and educate you along the way. |
| Clinical Secretary | Helps to process all referral forms, book your visits and manage medical information. |
| Lung Surgeon (Thoracic Surgeon) | A doctor with special training in operating on organs, like the lungs, inside the chest. |
| Lung Specialist Doctor (Respirologist) | A doctor who has extra training in diagnosing and treating lung disease (like asthma, emphysema, or pneumonia). A respirologist can perform tests on you to check how well you are breathing. |
The team has built a strong bond with the diagnostic imaging units of Grand River Hospital and St. Mary’s General Hospital to help speed up your medical testing. Getting your test results back faster means that you can get the care you need faster.
Sometimes a patient health case needs to be talked through by a group of doctors. This is a helpful way to have many doctors who are experts in lung disease and cancer make the best plan for your treatment. You might hear the doctors or nurses refer to it as the MCC or "Multidisciplinary Cancer Conference".
Where is the lung DAP located?
The regional clinic is located at:
Grand River Regional Cancer Centre
Inside the radiation department found on the main (3rd) floor of the cancer centre
How can I be referred to the lung DAP?
Who can refer me:
- Family Doctor
- Nurse Practitioner
- Doctor at a walk in clinic
Your health care team member will ask you questions about how you are feeling, symptoms and side effects you are having. Based on their medical assessment they may ask you to have a chest X-Ray (opens in new window) and/or a CT Scan (opens in new window) of your chest.
If your test results come back abnormal (not normal) then your doctor or nurse practitioner can send in a referral to the lung DAP.
Your doctor/ nurse practitioner should review both your chest x-ray and CT results as well as the guidelines found in the Cancer Care Ontario Lung Cancer Disease Pathway Map (opens as PDF) and the Fleischner criteria (opens as PDF) to ensure the lung DAP is the right program for you.