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OPTIMISATION OF CANCER CARE PATHWAY OF SCHEDULED PATIENTS WHEN OUTSOURCING CHEMO SUPPLY (submitted in 2019)
European Statement
Introductory Statements and Governance
Author(s)
Charlotte Chatain, Orane Gleizes, Séverine Barbault-Foucher, Sophie Barthier, André Rieutord, Niccolo Curatolo
Why was it done?
The production of chemotherapy of our hospital will be outsourced by September 2019. This is going to lead to new constraints including anticipated production before patients are admitted to the clinical ward.
What was done?
The clinical pathway of scheduled patients receiving chemotherapy in the main full hospitalization unit of the hospital was optimised.
How was it done?
The clinical pathway of scheduled patients was mapped to describe each step and validated by all the concerned health professionals. Data were collected between October and December 2017 to monitor the percentage of anticipated orders by physicians for chemotherapy production (also called “OK production”). Critical steps and/or bottlenecks were identified. Brainstorming workshops were set to identify areas of improvement with pharmacists, physicians, nurses and secretaries. Finally, the proposals made were implemented.
What has been achieved?
Two critical steps have been identified in this pathway: the receipt of the biological test results by the secretary and the “OK production” given by the physician. It has been decided for the secretary to call patients 72 hours (instead of 24 hours) before to remind them to do their biological test in the medical laboratory. An electronic and standardised prescription with the specific date for the biological test has also been created. In addition, a follow-up form was completed by pharmacists to secure all the critical steps and remind secretaries when they had to call patients and remind physicians when they had to give the “OK production”. Over a two months period, “OK production” given 24−48 hours before the admission increased from 18% to 40% (n= 15 patients).
What next?
These clinical pathway improvements allowed a better anticipation. The process-oriented approach used to identify solutions was very fruitful and led to collaborative solutions likely to be applied and accepted by both clinical ward and pharmacy. This method could be applied to improve other types of processes in our hospital.