University of Connecticut, Farmington, CT
Sarah Loschiavo, Trena Stoute, Karen Hook
Background: Timely incorporation of palliative services with chemotherapy treatment has become a new standard of care for oncology patients based on evidence-driven national clinical practice guidelines. However, best practices for service integration are not known, particularly for small academic centers. In our 224 bed university hospital, we hypothesized that advertisement, responsiveness to needs and service integration would result in increased utilization of palliative and supportive care. We report the process of developing our Integrated Model of Care. Methods: The program began with a 1.0 FTE APRN boarded as a FNP and certified as an advanced hospice and palliative nurse. The goal was to identify opportunities for her integration within the outpatient cancer center. A needs-assessment survey was sent to medical oncology faculty with the following items: proposed change in service name, care areas of greatest need, limitations to providing palliative care, additional growth opportunities. The Interdisciplinary Supportive Care Team was created utilizing existing staff. One year of billed consults were reviewed. The APRN attended tumor boards, team meetings, biweekly Interdisciplinary Team Meetings, communicated directly with the Inpatient Hem/Onc Team and provided educational sessions. Results: Needs assessment survey and service name change proposal sent to 14 oncology providers: 50% completed survey; seven responded YES to name change; zero providers responded NO. Of the 489 consults billed within the 1st year of service, 249 were inpatient and 240 outpatients. 168 individual patients were referred; > 72 patients were referred to palliative/hospice services; > 82 patients died. One year satisfaction survey; 17 respondents; 88.23% were satisficed and 100% would consult again. Conclusions: Medical oncology faculty at our institution responded favorably to the development of a designated “Oncology Supportive Care Service” evidenced by increased consultation and utilization of services. Optimizing clinical infrastructure, processes, education and research has led to the success of this integrated care model, lending to recruitment of additional allied health professionals and ongoing program growth.
Disclaimer
This material on this page is ©2024 American Society of Clinical Oncology, all rights reserved. Licensing available upon request. For more information, please contact licensing@asco.org
Abstract Disclosures
2023 ASCO Quality Care Symposium
First Author: Meredith MacMartin
2023 ASCO Annual Meeting
First Author: Tiffany M. Statler
2024 ASCO Annual Meeting
First Author: Rubina Ratnaparkhi
2023 ASCO Quality Care Symposium
First Author: Therese Marie Mulvey