Post by Research Group Digital Health

At #ICIC2026 in Birmingham, Madita Schädlich from our Research Group had the opportunity to present the poster “Mapping Patient Pathway Maturity in Comprehensive Cancer Care Networks: Insights from EUnetCCC - European Network of Comprehensive Cancer Centres”. Comprehensive Cancer Care Networks #CCCNs bring together multiple cancer care providers across the full patient pathway to enable coordinated, multidisciplinary, and patient-centred care. We asked the question: How far have CCCNs already progressed in terms of patient pathway development and implementation? Our results showed substantial heterogeneity in overall pathway maturity across CCCNs. Looking more closely at the different dimensions of maturity, one key message emerged: While patient pathways are often structurally well developed, they are not yet fully used as coordination instruments for integrated, patient-centred cancer care. This strongly resonated with one of the recurring themes throughout the ICIC conference: the real challenge often lies not only in designing structures, but in their actual implementation, integration, and sustained use in practice. ICIC 2026 was a very valuable experience for us, with an open and positive atmosphere, inspiring discussions, and many insightful exchanges. A big thank you to everyone involved in this work and poster: Hannes Schlieter, Peggy Richter, Martin Burwitz, and Ellen Griesshammer. #IntegratedCare #ICIC2026 #PatientPathways #EUnetCCC Deutsche Krebsgesellschaft e. V. (DKG) Technische Universität Dresden Fakultät Wirtschaftswissenschaften, TU Dresden