What Is the Impact of Survivorship Visits?: Preliminary Analysis From a NCI-Designated Cancer Center Radiation Oncology Program

2014 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. S715
Author(s):  
A. Leatherwood ◽  
O.V. Sostin ◽  
Y. Chen ◽  
C.R. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Radiation Oncology ◽  
Preliminary Analysis ◽  
Cancer Center ◽  
The Impact

Improving the Accessibility of Patient Care Through Integration of the Hospital and Radiation Oncology Electronic Health Records

2017 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Abhishek Ashok Solanki ◽  
Murat Surucu ◽  
Amishi Bajaj ◽  
Barbara Kaczmarz ◽  
Brendan Martin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Patient Care ◽  
Radiation Oncology ◽  
Multidisciplinary Care ◽  
Cancer Center ◽  
Health Records ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Patients With Cancer ◽  
Electronic Health ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Radiation therapy (RT)–specific aspects of a patient’s cancer care commonly are documented and scheduled through a radiation oncology electronic health record (rEHR). However, patients who receive RT also receive multidisciplinary care from providers who use the hospital EHR (hEHR). We created an electronic interface to integrate our hEHR and rEHR to improve communication of the RT aspects of care between our department and the rest of the hospital. The objective of this study was to assess the impact of rEHR and hEHR integration on the accessibility of the RT-specific aspects of patient care to providers. Methods and Materials We performed a preintegration and postintegration survey of 175 staff members at our academic cancer center. Respondents rated the importance and accessibility of several RT encounters and documents on a Likert scale. The Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney, χ2, and Fisher’s exact tests were used to compare preintegration and postintegration responses. Results There were 32 and 19 responses to the pre- and postintegration surveys, respectively. rEHR items most commonly reported to be at least moderately important were the dates of first treatment (n = 29 [91%]), last treatment (n = 29 [91%]), brachytherapy (n = 22 [69%]), radiosurgery (n = 22 [69%]), and computed tomography simulation (n = 21 [66%]). A drastic improvement was found in most items made visible in the hEHR through the interface. Conclusion By integrating our hEHR and rEHR, we improved the communication of patient care between the RT department and the multidisciplinary team. Institutions should pursue and support integration of the EHRs to improve the quality of care provided to patients with cancer.

scholarly journals Chemotherapy Delays Are Associated with Inferior Outcome in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: A Retrospective Study from a Tertiary Cancer Center in South India

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (01) ◽  
pp. 051-060
Author(s):  
Vineet Agrawal ◽  
Smita Kayal ◽  
Prasanth Ganesan ◽  
Biswajit Dubashi
Keyword(s):  
Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia ◽  
Lymphoblastic Leukemia ◽  
Univariate Analysis ◽  
Cancer Center ◽  
Survival Outcomes ◽  
Separate Analysis ◽  
Term Survival ◽  
Free Survival ◽  
Intensive Phase ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Treatment protocols for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have evolved over time to give excellent cure rates in children and moderate outcomes in adults; however, little is known how delays in chemotherapy affect long-term survival. Objectives To find the association of delays during different treatment phases on the survival outcomes. Materials and Methods Data from 149 ALL cases treated between 2009 and 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. Treatment course in commonly used protocols was divided into three phases—induction, consolidation (postremission), maintenance, and also a combined intensive phase (induction plus consolidation) for the purpose of analysis, and delay in each phase was defined based on clinically acceptable breaks. Analysis was done to find the impact of treatment delay in each phase on the survival outcomes. Results The median age was 12 years (range, 1–57). Multi-center Protocol-841 (MCP-841) was used for 72%, German Multicenter Study Group for Adult ALL (GMALL) for 19%, and Berlin, Frankfurt, Muenster, 95 protocol (BFM-95) for 9% of patients. Delay in induction was seen in 52%, consolidation in 66%, and during maintenance in 42% of patients. The median follow-up was 41 months, and 3-year survival outcomes for the entire cohort were event-free survival (EFS)—60%, relapse-free survival (RFS)—72%, and overall survival (OS)—68%. On univariate analysis, delay in induction adversely affected EFS (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.78, p = 0.04), while delay in intensive phase had significantly worse EFS and RFS (HR = 2.41 [p = 0.03] and HR = 2.57 [p = 0.03], respectively). On separate analysis of MCP-841 cohort, delay in intensive phase affected both EFS (HR = 3.85, p = 0.02) and RFS (HR = 3.42, p = 0.04), whereas delay in consolidation significantly affected OS with (HR = 4.74, p = 0.04) independently. Conclusion Treatment delays mostly in intensive phase are associated with worse survival in ALL; attempts should be made to maintain protocol-defined treatment intensity while adequately managing toxicities.

Assessing the impact of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting on patients’ quality of life: An Arabic version of the Functional Living Index-Emesis

2021 ◽  
pp. 107815522199844
Author(s):  
Abdullah M Alhammad ◽  
Nora Alkhudair ◽  
Rawan Alzaidi ◽  
Latifa S Almosabhi ◽  
Mohammad H Aljawadi
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Nausea And Vomiting ◽  
Cancer Center ◽  
Arabic Version ◽  
Patient Reported ◽  
Arabic Speaking ◽  
The Impact

Introduction Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting is a serious complication of cancer treatment that compromises patients’ quality of life and treatment adherence, which necessitates regular assessment. Therefore, there is a need to assess patient-reported nausea and vomiting using a validated scale among Arabic speaking cancer patient population. The objective of this study was to translate and validate the Functional Living Index-Emesis (FLIE) instrument in Arabic, a patient-reported outcome measure designed to assess the influence of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting on patients’ quality of life. Methods Linguistic validation of an Arabic-language version was performed. The instrument was administered to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy in a tertiary hospital's cancer center in Saudi Arabia. Results One-hundred cancer patients who received chemotherapy were enrolled. The participants’ mean age was 53.3 ± 14.9 years, and 50% were female. Half of the participants had a history of nausea and vomiting with previous chemotherapy. The Cronbach coefficient alpha for the FLIE was 0.9606 and 0.9736 for nausea and vomiting domains, respectively, which indicated an excellent reliability for the Arabic FLIE. The mean FLIE score was 110.9 ± 23.5, indicating no or minimal impact on daily life (NIDL). Conclusions The Arabic FLIE is a valid and reliable tool among the Arabic-speaking cancer population. Thus, the Arabic version of the FLIE will be a useful tool to assess the quality of life among Arabic speaking patients receiving chemotherapy. Additionally, the translated instrument will be a useful tool for future research studies to explore new antiemetic treatments among cancer patients.

scholarly journals Increasing Mean Age of Head and Neck Cancer Patients at a German Tertiary Referral Center

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 832
Author(s):  
Julius M. Vahl ◽  
Marlene C. Wigand ◽  
Michael Denkinger ◽  
Dhayana Dallmeier ◽  
Chiara Steiger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Head And Neck Cancer ◽  
Head And Neck ◽  
Neck Cancer ◽  
Catchment Area ◽  
Incidence Rates ◽  
Cancer Center ◽  
Tertiary Referral ◽  
Tertiary Referral Center ◽  
Referral Center ◽  
The Impact

Background: The impact of demographic change on the age at diagnosis in German head and neck cancer (HNC) patients is unclear. Here we present an evaluation of aging trends in HNC at a tertiary referral center. Methods: Retrospective cohort study on aging trends at the initial diagnosis of newly diagnosed patients with HNC between 2004 and 2018 at the head and neck cancer center Ulm in relation to demographic data of the catchment area. Results: The study population consisted of 2450 individuals diagnosed with HNC with a mean age of 62.84 (±11.67) years. We observed a significant increase in annual incidence rates and mean age over time. Mean age among HNC patients increased significantly more than among the population in the catchment area. Whereas the incidence rate of patients <50 years did not change, the incidence of HNC patients aged ≥70 years increased the most. The mean patient age in the main tumor sites increased significantly. Surprisingly, HPV-positive patients were not younger than HPV-negative patients, but showed a non-significant trend towards a higher mean age (63.0 vs. 60.7 years). Conclusions: Increasing incidence rates in older patients pose a challenge for health care systems. A nationwide study is needed to assess the dynamics and impact of aging on the incidence of HNC.

scholarly journals Implementation of a Breast/Reconstruction Surgery Coordinator to Reduce Preoperative Delays for Patients Undergoing Mastectomy With Immediate Reconstruction

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. e338-e343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehra Golshan ◽  
Katya Losk ◽  
Melissa A. Mallory ◽  
Kristen Camuso ◽  
Linda Cutone ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Patient Outcomes ◽  
Cancer Center ◽  
Immediate Reconstruction ◽  
Reconstruction Surgery ◽  
Surgical Services ◽  
Breast Surgeon ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Surgical Teams ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Surgical Clinic

Purpose: Mastectomy with immediate reconstruction (MIR) requires coordination between breast and reconstructive surgical teams, leading to increased preoperative delays that may adversely impact patient outcomes and satisfaction. Our cancer center established a target of 28 days from initial consultation with the breast surgeon to MIR. We sought to determine if a centralized breast/reconstructive surgical coordinator (BRC) could reduce care delays. Methods: A 60-day pilot to evaluate the impact of a BRC on timeliness of care was initiated at our cancer center. All reconstructive surgery candidates were referred to the BRC, who had access to surgical clinic and operating room schedules. The BRC worked with both surgical services to identify the earliest surgery dates and facilitated operative bookings. The median time to MIR and the proportion of MIR cases that met the time-to-treatment goal was determined. These results were compared with a baseline cohort of patients undergoing MIR during the same time period (January to March) in 2013 and 2014. Results: A total of 99 patients were referred to the BRC (62% cancer, 21% neoadjuvant, 17% prophylactic) during the pilot period. Focusing exclusively on patients with a cancer diagnosis, an 18.5% increase in the percentage of cases meeting the target (P = .04) and a 7-day reduction to MIR (P = .02) were observed. Conclusion: A significant reduction in time to MIR was achieved through the implementation of the BRC. Further research is warranted to validate these findings and assess the impact the BRC has on operational efficiency and workflows.

Healthcare utilization and costs in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients treated at a large referral center in Washington (WA) State.

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e16149-e16149
Author(s):  
Veena Shankaran ◽  
Shasank Chennupati ◽  
Hayley Sanchez ◽  
Qin Sun ◽  
Abdalla Aly ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Characteristics ◽  
Hospital Costs ◽  
Treatment Patterns ◽  
Treatment Costs ◽  
New Drugs ◽  
Cancer Center ◽  
Mean Lifetime ◽  
Lifetime Costs ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Lifetime Treatment

e16149 Background: Though the treatment landscape for HCC has changed significantly in the last several years with the refinement of liver-directed therapy techniques and the introduction of multiple new drugs, few studies have investigated the impact of the changing treatment landscape on lifetime treatment costs, particularly in Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage C disease. We therefore sought to investigate real-world clinical characteristics, treatment patterns, healthcare use, and costs in patients with HCC treated at a single high-volume institution in WA. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients diagnosed with HCC between 2007 and 2018 at a single clinical cancer center using a database containing abstracted data from the electronic medical record (EMR) linked to cancer registry data and health claims from commercial insurance plans, Medicare, and Medicaid. We described clinical characteristics, including BCLC stage and Child Pugh score, and treatment patterns. We investigated the mean per patient lifetime treatment costs by BCLC stage using Kaplan-Meier cost estimator methods. Results: The final cohort included 215 patients, majority white (71%), male (68%), and with underlying hepatitis C (61%). Most patients had either Child Pugh A (76%) or B (20%) liver disease and BCLC A (45%), B (20%), or C (19%) stage HCC. Only 40% of BCLC C patients received systemic chemotherapy. Mean per patient lifetime costs were highest in BCLC A ($289,318) and BCLC C ($255,430) patients and lowest in BCLC D ($123,701) patients (Table). Surgical costs, hospital costs, imaging, and outpatient visits were the major contributors to total lifetime costs in BCLC A patients. Chemotherapy costs were highest in BCLC C patients, but still were not the predominant area of spending. Conclusions: In a WA state cohort of HCC patients, mean lifetime costs were highest in patients with BCLC A disease, largely driven by surgery and hospital costs. As utilization of newer and less toxic therapies in BCLC C patients increases, mean lifetime costs in this group may surpass other stages.[Table: see text]

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document