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1.
CA Cancer J Clin ; 70(5): 349-354, 2020 09.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32662880

ABSTRACT

New York City has been at the epicenter of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that has already infected over a million people and resulted in more than 70,000 deaths as of early May 2020 in the United States alone. This rapid and enormous influx of patients into the health care system has had profound effects on all aspects of health care, including the care of patients with cancer. In this report, the authors highlight the transformation they underwent within the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology as they prepared for the COVID-19 crisis in New York City. Under stressful and uncertain conditions, some of the many changes they enacted within their division included developing a regular line of communication among division leaders to ensure the development and implementation of a restructuring strategy, completely reconfiguring the inpatient and outpatient units, rapidly developing the ability to perform telemedicine video visits, and creating new COVID-rule-out and COVID-positive clinics for their patients. These changes allowed them to manage the storm while minimizing the disruption of important continuity of care to their patients with cancer. The authors hope that their experiences will be helpful to other oncology practices about to experience their own individual COVID-19 crises.


Subject(s)
COVID-19/epidemiology , COVID-19/prevention & control , Hematologic Neoplasms/complications , Hematology/organization & administration , Medical Oncology/organization & administration , Oncology Service, Hospital/organization & administration , COVID-19/complications , COVID-19/diagnosis , Communication , Hematologic Neoplasms/therapy , Hematology/methods , Humans , Medical Oncology/methods , New York City/epidemiology , Outpatient Clinics, Hospital/organization & administration , Patient Isolation , SARS-CoV-2 , Telemedicine/organization & administration
2.
Health Soc Work ; 48(4): 261-269, 2023 Oct 27.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37652026

ABSTRACT

The combination of the ongoing violence perpetuated against Black, Brown, and Asian people, and the increased incidence of death of Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) and Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, elicited an important response from the field of social work across the nation. This article describes the efforts undertaken by a Social Work Department at a comprehensive cancer center in response to a call to develop antiracist practice. This article recounts the process of creating educational opportunities for oncology social workers to help them identify bias and racism in themselves and throughout the healthcare system, to embrace intentional antiracist practice, and to better advocate for BIPOC/AAPI patients and colleagues. The strategies included the development of an antiracism committee, the use of a social location exercise to influence and disrupt white supremacy, the creation of community guidelines for engaging in conversations about race, and the formulation of a new departmental policy ensuring a commitment to antiracist social work practice. In addition, a forum using multimedia was created to explore racial dynamics and to highlight the narratives of BIPOC and AAPI people. Further, a monthly Antiracist Clinical Case Conference was implemented to explore their role in the context of working with the interdisciplinary team in an oncology setting. This article concludes with recommendations for ongoing antiracist social work practice development that may be applied in various healthcare settings.


Subject(s)
Antiracism , Neoplasms , Oncology Service, Hospital , Humans , Pandemics , Racism , Social Work , Social Workers , Oncology Service, Hospital/organization & administration
3.
Health Care Manag Sci ; 24(1): 117-139, 2021 Mar.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33044667

ABSTRACT

Infusion centers are experiencing greater demand, resulting in long patient wait times. The duration of chemotherapy treatment sessions often varies, and this uncertainty also contributes to longer patient wait times and to staff overtime, if not managed properly. The impact of such long wait times can be significant for cancer patients due to their physical and emotional vulnerability. In this paper, a mixed integer programming infusion appointment scheduling (IAS) mathematical model is developed based on patient appointment data, obtained from a cancer center of an academic hospital in Central Virginia. This model minimizes the weighted sum of the total wait times of patients, the makespan and the number of beds used through the planning horizon. A mixed integer programming robust slack allocation (RSA) mathematical model is designed to find the optimal patient appointment schedules, considering the fact that infusion time of patients may take longer than expected. Since the models can only handle a small number of patients, a robust scheduling heuristic (RSH) is developed based on the adaptive large neighborhood search (ALNS) to find patient appointments of real size infusion centers. Computational experiments based on real data show the effectiveness of the scheduling models compared to the original scheduling system of the infusion center. Also, both robust approaches (RSA and RSH) are able to find more reliable schedules than their deterministic counterparts when infusion time of patients takes longer than the scheduled infusion time.


Subject(s)
Ambulatory Care Facilities/organization & administration , Appointments and Schedules , Drug Therapy , Oncology Service, Hospital/organization & administration , Efficiency, Organizational , Hospitals, Teaching , Humans , Models, Theoretical , Time Factors , Virginia
4.
J Oncol Pharm Pract ; 27(4): 897-901, 2021 Jun.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32703083

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Clinical pharmacy is considered an integral discipline in the health care system for optimizing therapy and reducing drug-related problems. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of clinical pharmacists in optimizing management in a medical oncology service. METHODS: A prospective study was conducted at King Hussein Cancer Center between July 2019 and September 2019 of patients admitted to the medical oncology service. The impact of clinical pharmacists was measured by evaluating their interventions, defined as actions that were expected to result in a change in patient management. Data were collected daily by routine review of patients' profiles and by recording clinical pharmacists' interventions. The data collected were baseline characteristics of patients, numbers and types of clinical pharmacists' interventions, their significance, medications involved, and rate of acceptance of clinical pharmacists' interventions by physicians. The significance of each intervention was assessed by two clinical pharmacists on a Hatoum scale. Physicians' acceptance was assessed by whether the recommendations were implemented. RESULTS: During the study period, 748 patients were included, of whom 605 required a total of 1683 clinical interventions. The mean age was 56.3 years (±15.5 SD). Of the interventions, 39% resulted in initiation of a drug and 25% in drug discontinuations. The drug group most commonly associated with clinical pharmacists' interventions was antibiotics (26.5%). Physicians accepted 98% of the clinical pharmacists' interventions, and 92.4% of the interventions brought care to a more appropriate level and were considered significant. CONCLUSION: Most patients in the medical oncology service required clinical pharmacists' interventions, as demonstrated by the high number of significant clinical pharmacists' interventions. Studies should be conducted to follow up these findings with respect to patient outcomes and cost savings.


Subject(s)
Oncology Service, Hospital/organization & administration , Pharmacists , Adult , Aged , Anti-Bacterial Agents/adverse effects , Cost Savings , Female , Humans , Inpatients , Interprofessional Relations , Jordan , Male , Medication Errors , Middle Aged , Pharmacy Service, Hospital , Physicians , Prospective Studies
5.
Ann Diagn Pathol ; 53: 151763, 2021 Aug.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34111707

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Primary mediastinal germ tumours (PMGCT) constitute, a mere 3-4% of all germ cell tumours (GCT). Although they account for approximately 16% of mediastinal tumours in adults and 19-25% in children as per western literature, there is hardly any large series on PMGCT reported from the Indian subcontinent. DESIGN: We have retrospectively analysed clinicopathological features of 98 cases of PMGCT diagnosed over 10 years (2010-2019) from a tertiary-care oncology centre. RESULTS: The study group (n = 98) comprised predominantly of males (n = 92) (M:F ratio-15:1), with an age range between 3 months to 57 years (median: 25 years). The tumours were predominantly located in the anterior mediastinum (n = 96). Broadly, Non-seminomatous germ cell tumours (NSGCT) were more common (n = 73, 74%) compared to pure seminoma (n = 25, 26%). Mixed NSGCT was the most common histological subtype (n = 30) followed by pure mature teratoma (n = 18), pure Yolk sac tumour (n = 13), mixed seminoma and NSGCT (n = 5), pure immature teratoma (n = 3) and GCT; NOS (n = 4). Interestingly, all female patients had exclusive teratomas. Nine cases revealed secondary somatic malignancy (5 carcinomas and 4 sarcomas). The majority of patients received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (n = 71). Surgical excision was performed in 60 patients. Follow up was available in 68 patients. NSGCT showed a poor prognosis as compared to seminoma (p value = 0.03) and tumours with somatic malignancies had a more aggressive clinical course. CONCLUSION: PMGCT was seen predominantly in young adult males and somatic malignancies were noted in as high as 9% of cases. Patient with somatic malignancy have aggressive clinical course, hence, extensive sampling and careful histopathological evaluation are recommended for the identification and definitive characterization.


Subject(s)
Mediastinal Neoplasms/pathology , Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal/diagnosis , Seminoma/diagnosis , Testicular Neoplasms/diagnosis , Adolescent , Adult , Child , Child, Preschool , Endodermal Sinus Tumor/diagnosis , Endodermal Sinus Tumor/epidemiology , Endodermal Sinus Tumor/pathology , Humans , India/epidemiology , Infant , Male , Middle Aged , Neoadjuvant Therapy/methods , Neoplasms/epidemiology , Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal/epidemiology , Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal/pathology , Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal/therapy , Oncology Service, Hospital/organization & administration , Prevalence , Prognosis , Retrospective Studies , Seminoma/epidemiology , Seminoma/pathology , Teratoma/diagnosis , Teratoma/epidemiology , Teratoma/pathology , Tertiary Healthcare , Testicular Neoplasms/epidemiology , Testicular Neoplasms/pathology , Young Adult
6.
Scott Med J ; 66(3): 142-147, 2021 08.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33966512

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: In 2010, a virtual sarcoma referral model was implemented, which aims to provide a centralised multidisciplinary team (MDT) to provide rapid advice, avoiding unnecessary appointments and providing a streamlined service. The aim of this study is to examine the feasibility of this screening tool in reducing the service burden and expediting patient journey. METHODS AND RESULTS: All referrals made to a single tertiary referral sarcoma unit from January 2010 to December 2018 were extracted from a prospective database. Only 26.0% events discussed required review directly. 30.3% were discharged back to referrer. 16.5% required further investigations. 22.5% required a biopsy prior to review. There was a reduction in the rate of patients reviewed at the sarcoma clinic, and a higher discharge rate from the MDT in 2018 versus 2010 (p < 0.001). This gives a potential cost saving of 670,700 GBP over the 9 year period. CONCLUSION: An MDT meeting which triages referrals is cost-effective at reducing unnecessary referrals. This can limit unnecessary exposure of patients who may have an underlying diagnosis of cancer to a high-risk environment, and reduces burden on services as it copes with increasing demands during the COVID-19 pandemic.


Subject(s)
Oncology Service, Hospital , Patient Care Team , Referral and Consultation , Sarcoma/therapy , Triage/methods , Adult , COVID-19/epidemiology , Cost-Benefit Analysis , Feasibility Studies , Female , Health Care Costs , Humans , Male , Oncology Service, Hospital/economics , Oncology Service, Hospital/organization & administration , Patient Care Team/economics , Patient Care Team/organization & administration , Referral and Consultation/economics , Referral and Consultation/organization & administration , Sarcoma/diagnosis , Sarcoma/economics , Scotland/epidemiology , Tertiary Care Centers/economics , Tertiary Care Centers/organization & administration , Triage/economics , Videoconferencing
7.
Oncology (Williston Park) ; 34(5): 156-162, 2020 05 13.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32644174

ABSTRACT

The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has rapidly placed tremendous stress on health systems around the world. In response, multiple health systems have postponed elective surgeries in order to conserve hospital beds and personal protective equipment, minimize patient traffic, and prevent unnecessary utilization and exposure of healthcare workers. The American College of Surgeons released the following statement on March 13, 2020: "Each hospital, health system and surgeon should thoughtfully review all scheduled elective procedures with a plan to minimize, postpone, or cancel electively scheduled operations, endoscopes, or other invasive procedures until we have passed the predicted inflection point in the exposure graph and can be confident that our health care infrastructure can support a potentially rapid and overwhelming uptick in critical patient care needs." In our state, North Carolina, Governor Roy Cooper requested that all hospitals postpone elective and non-urgent procedures and surgeries effective March 23, 2020.


Subject(s)
Coronavirus Infections , Elective Surgical Procedures/methods , Lymph Node Excision/methods , Oncology Service, Hospital , Pandemics , Pneumonia, Viral , Prostatectomy/methods , Prostatic Neoplasms , Risk Adjustment/methods , Risk Management , Betacoronavirus , COVID-19 , Change Management , Coronavirus Infections/epidemiology , Coronavirus Infections/prevention & control , Humans , Infection Control/methods , Male , Middle Aged , Neoplasm Staging , North Carolina , Oncology Service, Hospital/organization & administration , Oncology Service, Hospital/trends , Pandemics/prevention & control , Patient Selection , Patient-Centered Care/organization & administration , Pneumonia, Viral/epidemiology , Pneumonia, Viral/prevention & control , Prostatic Neoplasms/epidemiology , Prostatic Neoplasms/pathology , Prostatic Neoplasms/surgery , Risk Management/methods , Risk Management/trends , SARS-CoV-2
8.
Int J Gynecol Cancer ; 30(7): 917-919, 2020 07.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32448805

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread to many countries and has been declared a global health emergency. Our center is located in the south of Italy where the infection rates were low and the clusters of COVID-19 positive patients were small and inhomogeneous. The aim of this short report is to share our experience as a starting point for the management of the steady state of the pandemic. METHODS: The safety of the patients and department staff required a strict plan to minimize the risk of infection between operators whose absence would have made it impossible to carry out the radiotherapy treatments. The head of the radiotherapy unit and members of the Hospital Crisis Unit have put in place a series of measures to manage the emergency. RESULTS: A "clean" team has been established whose members are kept out of the radiotherapy unit for 2 weeks on rotation. Several separate work areas have been made in order to reduce direct contact between the staff. Each staff member has to wear protective equipment if close contact with patients is required. Before confirming a radiotherapy consult or a follow-up visit, telephone clinical and epidemiological screening is performed by nurses through a questionnaire regarding the presence of respiratory symptoms or eventual social contacts with COVID-19 positive people. Once the patients arrive in the hospital, a triage point at the entrance to the hospital performs a second screening and a temperature check. CONCLUSIONS: This management experience of a radiotherapy unit in Southern Italy could serve as a useful example for the future. In fact, in the steady state of infection many centers may face epidemiologically contagious numbers similar to those that we currently have in our region. These numbers require the maintenance of alert and precautionary measures which in our case seem to have worked.


Subject(s)
Betacoronavirus , Coronavirus Infections/prevention & control , Infection Control/methods , Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional/prevention & control , Infectious Disease Transmission, Professional-to-Patient/prevention & control , Neoplasms/radiotherapy , Oncology Service, Hospital/organization & administration , Pandemics/prevention & control , Pneumonia, Viral/prevention & control , COVID-19 , COVID-19 Testing , Clinical Laboratory Techniques , Coronavirus Infections/diagnosis , Coronavirus Infections/transmission , Humans , Infection Control/organization & administration , Italy , Pneumonia, Viral/diagnosis , Pneumonia, Viral/transmission , Radiation Oncology/organization & administration , SARS-CoV-2 , Triage
9.
Health Care Manag Sci ; 23(1): 34-50, 2020 Mar.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30607801

ABSTRACT

Chemotherapy planning and patient-nurse assignment problems are complex multiobjective decision problems. Schedulers must make upstream decisions that affect daily operations. To improve productivity, we propose a two-stage procedure to schedule treatments for new patients, to plan nurse requirements, and to assign the daily patient mix to available nurses. We develop a mathematical formulation that uses a waiting list to take advantage of last-minute cancellations. In the first stage, we assign appointments to the new patients at the end of each day, we estimate the daily requirement for nurses, and we generate the waiting list. The second stage assigns patients to nurses while minimizing the number of nurses required. We test the procedure on realistically sized problems to demonstrate the impact on the cost effectiveness of the clinic.


Subject(s)
Appointments and Schedules , Drug Therapy/nursing , Oncology Service, Hospital/organization & administration , Personnel Staffing and Scheduling , Ambulatory Care Facilities , Efficiency, Organizational , Humans , Outpatients , Waiting Lists
10.
J Oncol Pharm Pract ; 26(8): 1947-1952, 2020 Dec.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33092498

ABSTRACT

Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused an emergency in health systems worldwide. Apart from its apparent morbidity and mortality, COVID-19 has also imposed unique challenges in the management of cancer patients. We report here measures taken by a major oncology Unit in Greece to continue operation of the department while ensuring safety of the patients and health care professionals. The efficacy of these measures could serve as guidance for Oncology departments in view of a second wave of COVID-19 cases.


Subject(s)
COVID-19/prevention & control , Neoplasms/therapy , Oncology Service, Hospital/organization & administration , Greece , Humans , Occupational Health , Patient Safety , SARS-CoV-2
11.
BMC Palliat Care ; 19(1): 14, 2020 Jan 27.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31987038

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The therapeutic landscape in medical oncology continues to expand significantly. Newer therapies, especially immunotherapy, offer the hope of profound and durable responses with more tolerable side effect profiles. Integrating this information into the decision making process is challenging for patients and oncologists. Systemic anticancer treatment within the last thirty days of life is a key quality of care indicator and is one parameter used in the assessment of aggressiveness of care. METHODS: A retrospective review of medical records of all patients previously treated at Goulburn Valley Health oncology department who died between 1 January 2015 and 30 June 2018 was conducted. Information collected related to patient demographics, diagnosis, treatment, and hospital care within the last 30 days of life. These results were presented to the cancer services meeting and a quality improvement intervention program was instituted. A second retrospective review of medical records of all patients who died between 1 July 2018 and 31 December 2018 was conducted in order to measure the effect of this intervention. RESULTS: The initial audit period comprised 440 patients. 120 patients (27%) received treatment within the last 30 days of life. The re-audit period comprised 75 patients. 19 patients (25%) received treatment within the last 30 days of life. Treatment rates of chemotherapy reduced after the intervention in contrast to treatment rates of immunotherapy which increased. A separate analysis calculated the rate of mortality within 30 days of chemotherapy from the total number of patients who received chemotherapy was initially 8% and 2% in the re-audit period. Treatment within the last 30 days of life was associated with higher use of aggressive care such as emergency department presentation, hospitalisation, ICU admission and late hospice referral. Palliative care referral rates improved after the intervention. CONCLUSION: This audit demonstrated that a quality improvement intervention can impact quality of care indicators with reductions in the use of chemotherapy within the last 30 days of life. However, immunotherapy use increased which may be explained by increased access and a better risk benefit balance.


Subject(s)
Antineoplastic Agents/therapeutic use , Neoplasms/drug therapy , Adult , Aged , Cancer Care Facilities/organization & administration , Cancer Care Facilities/statistics & numerical data , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Neoplasms/psychology , Oncology Service, Hospital/organization & administration , Oncology Service, Hospital/statistics & numerical data , Palliative Care/methods , Quality Improvement , Retrospective Studies
12.
BMC Palliat Care ; 19(1): 31, 2020 Mar 12.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32164672

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Palliative care (PC) referral is recommended early in the course of advanced cancer. This study aims to describe, in an integrated onco-palliative care program (IOPC), patient's profile when first referred to this program, timing of this referral and its impact on the trajectory of care at end-of-life. METHODS: The IOPC combined the weekly onco-palliative meeting (OPM) dedicated to patients with incurable cancer, and/or the clinical evaluation by the PC team. Oncologists can refer to the multidisciplinary board of the OPM the patients for whom goals and organization of care need to be discussed. We analyzed all patients first referred at OPM in 2011-2013. We defined the index of precocity (IP), as the ratio of the time from first referral to death by the time from diagnosis of incurability to death, ranging from 0 (late referral) to 1 (early referral). RESULTS: Of the 416 patients included, 57% presented with lung, urothelial cancers, or sarcoma. At first referral to IOPC, 76% were receiving antitumoral treatment, 63% were outpatients, 56% had a performance status ≤2 and 46% had a serum albumin level > 35 g/l. The median [1st-3rd quartile] IP was 0.39 [0.16-0.72], ranging between 0.53 [0.20-0.79] (earliest referral, i.e. close to diagnosis of incurability, for lung cancer) to 0.16 [0.07-0.56] (latest referral, i.e. close to death relatively to length of metastatic disease, for prostate cancer). Among 367 decedents, 42 (13%) received antitumoral treatment within 14 days before death, and 157 (43%) died in PC units. CONCLUSIONS: The IOPC is an effective organization to enable early integration of PC and decrease aggressiveness of care near the end-of life. The IP is a useful tool to model the timing of referral to IOPC, while taking into account each cancer types and therapeutic advances.


Subject(s)
Decision Making, Shared , Oncology Service, Hospital/standards , Referral and Consultation/standards , Time Factors , Aged , Delivery of Health Care, Integrated/methods , Delivery of Health Care, Integrated/standards , Delivery of Health Care, Integrated/trends , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Neoplasms/classification , Neoplasms/therapy , Oncology Service, Hospital/organization & administration , Oncology Service, Hospital/trends , Palliative Care/methods , Palliative Care/standards , Palliative Care/trends , Referral and Consultation/trends , Retrospective Studies , Terminal Care/organization & administration , Terminal Care/standards , Terminal Care/trends
13.
BMC Palliat Care ; 19(1): 20, 2020 Feb 13.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-32054480

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is mostly diagnosed at advanced stages among the majority of women in low-income settings, with palliative care being the only feasible form of care. This study was aimed at investigating palliative care knowledge and access among women with cervical cancer in Harare, Zimbabwe. METHODS: Sequential mixed methods design was used, consisting of two surveys and a qualitative inquiry. A census of 134 women diagnosed with cervical cancer who visited two cancer treating health facilities and one palliative care provider in Harare between January and April, 2018 were enrolled in the study. Seventy-eight health workers were also enrolled in a census in the respective facilities for a survey. Validated structured questionnaires in electronic format were used for both surveys. Descriptive statistics were generated from the surveys after conducting univariate analysis using STATA. Qualitative study used interview/discussion guides for data collection. Thematic analysis was conducted for qualitative data. RESULTS: Mean ages of patients and health workers in the surveys were 52 years (SD = 12) and 37 years (SD = 10,respectively. Thirty-two percent of women with cervical cancer reported knowledge of where to seek palliative care. Sixty-eight percent of women with cervical cancer had received treatment, yet only 13% reported receiving palliative care. Few women with cervical cancer associated treatment with pain (13%) and side effects (32%). More women associated cervical cancer with bad smells (81%) and death (84%). Only one of the health workers reported referring patients for palliative care. Seventy-six percent of health workers reported that the majority of patients with cervical cancer sourced their own analgesics from private pharmacies. Qualitative findings revealed a limited or lack of cervical cancer knowledge among nurses especially in primary health care, the existence of stigma among women with cervical cancer and limited implementation of palliative policy. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed limited knowledge and access to palliative care in a low-income setting due to multi-faceted barriers. These challenges are not unique to the developing world and they present an opportunity for low-income countries to start considering and strategizing the integration of oncology and palliative care models in line with international recommendations.


Subject(s)
Health Services Accessibility/standards , Palliative Care/methods , Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/therapy , Adult , Female , Health Services Accessibility/trends , Humans , Middle Aged , Oncology Service, Hospital/organization & administration , Oncology Service, Hospital/statistics & numerical data , Palliative Care/psychology , Palliative Care/trends , Qualitative Research , Surveys and Questionnaires , Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/epidemiology , Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/psychology , Zimbabwe/epidemiology
14.
Hell J Nucl Med ; 23(3): 349-353, 2020.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-33306764

ABSTRACT

COVID-19 pandemic is having a strong impact on healthcare providers around the world, by refocusing and reducing non-essential medical activities. Nuclear medicine departments among others, have been reorganizing and reprioritizing diagnostic and theragnostic procedures. This reorganizing had a negative impact on the supply of positron emission tomography (PET) services to oncologic patients, whose health was affected. We herein present the PET findings in three different cancer scenarios in which disease course was dramatically affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.


Subject(s)
COVID-19/epidemiology , Neoplasms/epidemiology , Positron-Emission Tomography , Disease Progression , Humans , Infection Control/methods , Neoplasms/diagnostic imaging , Nuclear Medicine Department, Hospital/organization & administration , Nuclear Medicine Department, Hospital/statistics & numerical data , Oncology Service, Hospital/organization & administration , Oncology Service, Hospital/statistics & numerical data
15.
Jpn J Clin Oncol ; 49(12): 1114-1119, 2019 Dec 27.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31723978

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this survey was to describe how geriatric oncology is integrated in undergraduate teaching and graduate training as well as in daily clinical oncology practice in Japan. METHODS: All schools of medicine in Japan are allied with graduate schools of medicine. We conducted a survey of all Japanese medical and graduate schools (n = 81), and designated cancer hospitals (n = 437) from July 2018 to August 2018. The survey of the schools asked about existence of geriatrics division and geriatric oncology service and if an education curriculum in geriatrics and geriatric oncology was used. The survey of designated cancer hospitals requested general hospital information and the current practice patterns of general geriatric and cancer patients. RESULTS: Forty-eight medical schools (59%) participated in this survey, and teaching in geriatrics and geriatric oncology was implemented in 23 schools and 1 school, respectively. Forty-two graduate schools of medicine (52%) responded; five had an education curriculum in geriatrics, but none provided geriatric oncology training. Among 151 participating hospitals (35%), 5 had a geriatrics division and 20 hospitals employed geriatricians. There was no geriatric oncology service or geriatric oncology specialists in any of the 151 hospitals. Seventy percent of the hospitals reported performing a geriatric assessment for at least some older adults with cancer. CONCLUSIONS: This survey provides information on the current state of Japanese education and clinical practice in geriatric oncology. In Japan, a nation with among the largest population of older citizens in the world, education and training greatly need to be promoted to disseminate a core set of geriatrics knowledge and skills to students, trainees and healthcare professionals.


Subject(s)
Geriatrics/education , Medical Oncology/education , Medical Oncology/statistics & numerical data , Aged , Curriculum/statistics & numerical data , Education, Medical/statistics & numerical data , Humans , Japan , Medical Oncology/organization & administration , Oncology Service, Hospital/organization & administration , Oncology Service, Hospital/statistics & numerical data , Practice Patterns, Physicians'/statistics & numerical data , Surveys and Questionnaires
16.
Eur J Cancer Care (Engl) ; 28(1): e12918, 2019 Jan.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30284337

ABSTRACT

This study was designed to focus on the patient perspective in a reorganisation of care processes at a cancer day care unit (CDU). The effects of dose banding and of taking blood samples one day (or more) before the day care treatment (on Day -1) are investigated in terms of throughput efficiency and perceived service quality. Data were collected by mapping patient processes in detail and surveying patients in two CDUs at a university hospital (n = 308). A univariate model was used to investigate the effect of these factors on patient throughput time, and perceived service quality was examined with multiple linear regression. Taking blood samples on Day -1 decreases patient throughput time and increases the perceived service quality by improving the patient's perception of technical expertise and the outcome. This has a globally positive effect on patients' perceived service quality. Dose banding affected neither patient throughput time nor perceived service quality. Taking the pretreatment blood sample on Day -1 can be considered an important process design characteristic, as it increases both efficiency and service quality.


Subject(s)
Antineoplastic Agents/administration & dosage , Day Care, Medical/organization & administration , Efficiency, Organizational , Neoplasms/drug therapy , Oncology Service, Hospital/organization & administration , Quality of Health Care , Ambulatory Care , Humans , Linear Models , Time Factors
17.
BMC Palliat Care ; 18(1): 67, 2019 Aug 06.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31387568

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Palliative patients generally present with symptoms of dyspnea, easy fatigability, lethargy and feeling of being unwell which can broadly be attributed to one root cause: cancer-related anemia. So, packed red cell transfusion is often carried out aiming to improve patients' functional status. Different cut off hemoglobin values have been suggested, with Hb < 9 g/dL the most commonly accepted. The present study aims at evaluating and comparing the benefits in subjective symptoms of fatigue and breathlessness among transfused and non-transfused palliative patients on Day 0 and Day 7. METHODS: Hemoglobin values, anemia related subjective symptoms of fatigue and breathlessness were recorded from 122 patients. The patients were re-evaluated on day-7 post-transfusion. The pre and post-transfusion symptomatic benefit was compared in both transfused and non-transfused palliative care patients. RESULTS: The currently practiced hemoglobin trigger for packed red cell transfusion is 10 g/dL. The units of packed red cell to be transfused was decided according to the hemoglobin values targeting the rise to > 10 g/dL. A mean 1.36 units were transfused. Statistically significant improvement was observed in patient reported symptoms of fatigue and breathlessness among both transfused and non-transfused palliative patients. CONCLUSION: Anemic cancer palliative patients were found to benefit following packed red cell transfusion, suggesting a favorable association between the transfusion and patient-reported fatigue and dyspnea.


Subject(s)
Erythrocyte Transfusion/standards , Neoplasms/therapy , Palliative Care/standards , Adult , Aged , Dyspnea/therapy , Erythrocyte Transfusion/methods , Erythrocyte Transfusion/statistics & numerical data , Fatigue/therapy , Female , Hemoglobins/analysis , Humans , Longitudinal Studies , Male , Middle Aged , Nepal , Oncology Service, Hospital/organization & administration , Oncology Service, Hospital/statistics & numerical data , Palliative Care/methods
18.
Pain Manag Nurs ; 20(5): 468-474, 2019 10.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31103507

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Public hospitals in Catalonia (Spain) recommend using the Spanish version of the Pain Assessment in Advanced Dementia (PAINAD-Sp) scale for assessing pain in adult patients unable to self-report. However, since its inclusion in Catalonian nursing care plans in 2010, there have been no training programs for nurses, contributing to its current underuse. AIMS: The aim of this study was to assess the impact of a nurse training intervention on the PAINAD-Sp scale in noncommunicative inpatients unable to self-report. DESIGN: Before-after study. SETTINGS: Two public hospitals in Catalonia (Spain). PARTICIPANTS/SUBJECTS: Four hundred and one nurses participated in the training course and 219 patients received PAINAD-Sp assessments. METHODS: We used a before-after study design, evaluating the use of the PAINAD-Sp scale over two 6-month periods before and after an online training intervention for nurses in February 2017, in two public hospitals. Data were collected from patient records in each center. The primary outcome was the number of patients receiving PAINAD-Sp assessments during admission. Secondary outcomes were the number of assessments undertaken per patient during admission, the total (0-10) and item-specific (0-2) PAINAD-Sp score, and pharmacologic treatment administered. RESULTS: There were 401 nurses who took part in the training program. Over the study period, 219 patients received PAINAD-Sp assessments: 29 in the preintervention period and 190 in the postintervention period (p < .001). Administration of analgesics and antipyretics decreased (p < .001) after the intervention, whereas use of hypnotic drugs and sedatives increased. CONCLUSIONS: Theoretical and practical training may be an effective way to improve nurses' approach to identifying, assessing, and managing pain in patients unable to self-report.


Subject(s)
Clinical Competence/standards , Dementia/nursing , Pain Measurement/standards , Teaching/standards , Aged , Clinical Competence/statistics & numerical data , Dementia/complications , Female , Health Personnel/standards , Health Personnel/statistics & numerical data , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Nursing Homes/organization & administration , Nursing Homes/statistics & numerical data , Oncology Service, Hospital/organization & administration , Oncology Service, Hospital/statistics & numerical data , Pain Measurement/methods , Psychometrics/instrumentation , Psychometrics/methods , Reproducibility of Results , Spain , Teaching/statistics & numerical data
19.
Nurs Health Sci ; 21(2): 164-170, 2019 Jun.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-30345585

ABSTRACT

The everyday landscape of occupational therapy (OT) in oncology is underexplored, hindering targeted improvements. The purpose of the present study was to identify the OT interventions commonly provided and reimbursed in oncology. A survey utilizing snowball sampling was disseminated online to OT working in oncology care; 167 surveys were received from 21 states in the United States. Results found that over 90% of therapists reported focusing on physical impairment, weakness, fatigue, and activities of daily living. Interventions for emotional/social support, self-advocacy, quality of life, lifestyle management, and cognitive impairment were not directly billed. More than 90% of therapists reported that, in the absence of barriers, they would address quality of life, emotional difficulties, lifestyle management, and home safety. Overall, the findings suggested that OT in the United States primarily provide physical interventions for oncology patients. However, they also provide psychosocial services and client/caregiver education, but often do not bill directly for this care. Reimbursement structures should be modified to allow for the direct billing of mental/psychosocial and educational interventions in OT for cancer care.


Subject(s)
Occupational Therapy/methods , Activities of Daily Living , Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Occupational Therapy/trends , Oncology Service, Hospital/organization & administration , Oncology Service, Hospital/trends , Quality of Life , Surveys and Questionnaires , United States
20.
Nurs Adm Q ; 43(3): 280-288, 2019.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-31162348

ABSTRACT

Traditional quality assurance processes provide significant opportunities for positive disruption. Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) students are well positioned to apply program learning to large-scale change in complex organizations. This article presents an innovative approach for creating a point-of-care interdisciplinary approach to address high fall risk frequencies in ambulatory oncology clinics using complexity leadership principles. Processes for nurse executives to consider for replication of this approach for other challenging clinical situations are suggested using the emerging competence of DNP educated nurses. Adults with cancer who are older than 65 years are at a higher risk for falls than older adults without cancer. Oncology providers and nurses are not routinely screening, documenting, and preventing falls. A fall injury in an older adult with cancer may not only delay or impact cancer treatment but also result in hospitalization, loss of function, and/or death. Increasing awareness of the impact of falls and implementing change within a large ambulatory health care organization requires an interdisciplinary team approach. Complexity theory supports nonlinear change initiated at the grassroots level to create a dynamic movement to bring forth emergence and adaptation. The use of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention STEADI (Stopping Elderly Accidents, Deaths, and Injuries) initiative will enable oncology professionals to screen, assess, and intervene by collaborating, communicating, and coordinating with other health care specialists to introduce a fall prevention quality improvement system process. Nurse executives need to know about STEADI.


Subject(s)
Accidental Falls/prevention & control , Quality Indicators, Health Care/standards , Accidental Falls/statistics & numerical data , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Female , Geriatrics/methods , Geriatrics/standards , Humans , Male , Oncology Service, Hospital/organization & administration , Oncology Service, Hospital/standards , Oncology Service, Hospital/statistics & numerical data , Quality Improvement/trends , Quality Indicators, Health Care/statistics & numerical data
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