Who is in charge of my care now that treatment is over?
Usually nobody has claimed it, which is the actual problem. Survivorship care works when one named person owns each area rather than everyone assuming someone else is watching.
What is well established
- Handoff gaps between oncology and primary care are a documented failure point.Strong agreement
- A written survivorship care plan improves clarity about who does what.General agreement
- Shared-care models work when responsibilities are written down, not assumed.General agreement
What is still uncertain
- Whether care plans alone improve health outcomes is debated; clarity is the near-term benefit.
What to do next
- Ask oncology for a written summary of treatment and a follow-up plan.
- Ask your primary care clinician to confirm what they will monitor.
- Fill in a responsibility map with names, not roles.
Who usually owns this
You hold the map; oncology and primary care each own named lines on it.
Assign a named personWhere this comes from
- IOM and ASCO survivorship care planning literatureReviewed 2026-06
Page last reviewed 2026-08-10. This answer cannot tell you whether your cancer has returned, and it does not adjust any medicine.