scholarly journals The University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter E Lonergan ◽  
Samuel L Washington III ◽  
Linda Branagan ◽  
Nathaniel Gleason ◽  
Raj S Pruthi ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND The emergence of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in March 2020 created unprecedented challenges in the provision of scheduled ambulatory cancer care. As a result, there has been a renewed focus on video-based telehealth consultations as a means to continue ambulatory care. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to analyze the change in video visit volume at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Comprehensive Cancer Center in response to COVID-19 and compare patient demographics and appointment data from January 1, 2020, and in the 11 weeks after the transition to video visits. METHODS Patient demographics and appointment data (dates, visit types, and departments) were extracted from the electronic health record reporting database. Video visits were performed using a HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)-compliant video conferencing platform with a pre-existing workflow. RESULTS In 17 departments and divisions at the UCSF Cancer Center, 2284 video visits were performed in the 11 weeks before COVID-19 changes were implemented (mean 208, SD 75 per week) and 12,946 video visits were performed in the 11-week post–COVID-19 period (mean 1177, SD 120 per week). The proportion of video visits increased from 7%-18% to 54%-72%, between the pre– and post–COVID-19 periods without any disparity based on race/ethnicity, primary language, or payor. CONCLUSIONS In a remarkably brief period of time, we rapidly scaled the utilization of telehealth in response to COVID-19 and maintained access to complex oncologic care at a time of social distancing.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. 571-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary-Elizabeth M. Percival ◽  
Ryan C. Lynch ◽  
Anna B. Halpern ◽  
Mazyar Shadman ◽  
Ryan D. Cassaday ◽  
...  

In January 2020, the first documented patient in the United States infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 was diagnosed in Washington State. Since that time, community spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the state has changed the practice of oncologic care at our comprehensive cancer center in Seattle. At the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, the primary oncology clinic for the University of Washington/Fred Hutchinson Cancer Consortium, our specialists who manage adult patients with hematologic malignancies have rapidly adjusted clinical practices to mitigate the potential risks of COVID-19 to our patients. We suggest that our general management decisions and modifications in Seattle are broadly applicable to patients with hematologic malignancies. Despite a rapidly changing environment that necessitates opinion-based care, we provide recommendations that are based on best available data from clinical trials and collective knowledge of disease states.


2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 1228-1233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pam James ◽  
Patty Bebee ◽  
Linda Beekman ◽  
David Browning ◽  
Mathew Innes ◽  
...  

Quantifying data management and regulatory workload for clinical research is a difficult task that would benefit from a robust tool to assess and allocate effort. As in most clinical research environments, The University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMCCC) Clinical Trials Office (CTO) struggled to effectively allocate data management and regulatory time with frequently inaccurate estimates of how much time was required to complete the specific tasks performed by each role. In a dynamic clinical research environment in which volume and intensity of work ebbs and flows, determining requisite effort to meet study objectives was challenging. In addition, a data-driven understanding of how much staff time was required to complete a clinical trial was desired to ensure accurate trial budget development and effective cost recovery. Accordingly, the UMCCC CTO developed and implemented a Web-based effort-tracking application with the goal of determining the true costs of data management and regulatory staff effort in clinical trials. This tool was developed, implemented, and refined over a 3-year period. This article describes the process improvement and subsequent leveling of workload within data management and regulatory that enhanced the efficiency of UMCCC's clinical trials operation.


2013 ◽  
Vol 67 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 233-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan A. Wintermeyer-Pingel ◽  
Donna Murphy ◽  
Karen J. Hammelef

The University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMCCC) Grief and Loss Program provides supportive care services during bereavement which is considered part of the care continuum. This program received 50 death notifications per month upon project initiation and currently receives approximately 125 per month. Initial program evaluation was conducted via a pilot survey of bereaved parents as well as verbal and written evaluations from the transdisciplinary staff of Patient and Family Support Services. Grief support prior to evaluation included mailings, phone calls as indicated, poorly attended bereavement support groups, and limited staff support. Based on program evaluation, grief support continues through the use of mail/e-mail and phone calls to those at risk for complicated grief. Three to four gatherings per year are offered rather than monthly support groups, and connections to community resources are provided. The Comfort And Resources at End of Life (C-A-R-E) program was implemented to support and educate staff. Next steps include further program evaluation and potential research to examine best practices for the bereaved.


1998 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 271-276
Author(s):  
Carmen P. Escalante ◽  
Ellen F. Manzullo ◽  
Mary Ann Weiser ◽  
Edward B Rubenstein

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Montaser F. Shaheen ◽  
Julie Y. Tse ◽  
Ethan S. Sokol ◽  
Margaret Masterson ◽  
Pranshu Bansal ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTBackgroundLymphatic malformations (LMs) often pose treatment challenges due to a large size or a critical location that could lead to disfigurement, and there are no standardized treatment approaches for either refractory or unresectable cases.MethodsWe examined the genomic landscape of a patient cohort of LMs (n=30 cases) that underwent comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) using a large-panel next generation sequencing (NGS) assay. Immunohistochemical analyses were completed in parallel.ResultsThese LMs had low mutational burden with hotspot PIK3CA mutations and NRAS mutations being most frequent, and mutually exclusive. All LM cases with Kaposi sarcoma-like (kaposiform) histology had NRAS mutations. One index patient presented with subacute abdominal pain and was diagnosed with a large retroperitoneal lymphatic malformation harboring a somatic PIK3CA gain-of-function mutation (H1047R). The patient achieved a rapid and durable complete response to the PI3Kα inhibitor alpelisib within the context of a personalized N-of-1 clinical trial (NCT03941782). In translational correlative studies, canonical PI3Kα pathway activation was confirmed by immunohistochemistry and human LM-derived lymphatic endothelial cells carrying an allele with an activating mutation at the same locus were sensitive in vitro to alpelisib in a concentration-dependent manner.ConclusionsOur findings establish that LM patients with conventional or kaposiform histology have distinct, yet targetable, driver mutations.FundingR.P. and W.A. are supported by awards from the Levy-Longenbaugh Fund. S.G. is supported by awards from the Hugs for Brady Foundation. This work has been funded in part by the NCI Cancer Center Support Grants (CCSG; P30) to the University of Arizona Cancer Center (CA023074), the University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center (CA118100), and the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CA072720). B.K.M. was supported by National Science Foundation via Graduate Research Fellowship DGE-1143953.Clinical trial numberNCT03941782


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