Annual Report 2022
Patient Flow Support Center
Hiroyuki Fujimoto, Eriko Satomi, Ayako Mori, Tsutomu Hayashi, Hidehito Horinouchi, Shintaro Iwata, Emi Fujii, Hiroko Sasaguchi, Michiko Ohki, Takeyuki Wada, Sawako Kaku, Satoru Iwasa, Rieko Shimizu, Natsuko Moroi, Naoko Matsunaga, Miho Koitabashi, Mariko Shimizu, Masako Yabumoto, Ryoko Maeda, Yukimi Ikeda, Akane Sakamoto, Sanae Sawase, Kayoko Miyata, Daiki Murakami, Reiko Hanada, Fumiko Onishi, Tomonori Koma, Asuka Kijima, Kiyomi Suzuki, Yukari Tokuhisa, Yoshiko Takahashi, Shiori Yamaoka,, Mami Hoshikawa, Momoko Takahashi, Naoko Arii, Mari Suzuki, Saemi Ide, Yuka Ebihara, Erika Onuki, Ayako Hara, Sayaka Jin-no, Sayaka Kurata, Kana Ineno, Akiko Ueno, Uma Inatomi, Chieko Kamiya, Ayumi Terada, Ayako Taneshima, Risa Nishi
Introduction
During cancer treatment and management, there are various unmet needs which cannot be solved by each patient just visiting a doctor; it is generally recognized that taking a team approach to these problems is very important. In September 2016, the Supportive Care Development Center was opened as the team medicine base in the National Cancer Center Hospital. We supply many types of support, not only to patients but also to their families, in collaboration with doctors and other team members consisting of many dedicated professionals. In 2021, the Supportive Care Development Center consisted of three subdivisions: the Center for Physician Referral and Medical Social Service, the Center for Patient Flow Management, and the Center for Supportive Care Service.
The Team and What We Do
Center for Physician Referral and Medical Social Service
Total number of new patients was 12,505 (Figure 1). In terms of consultation support services, the total number of face-to-face and telephone consultations was 16,038 (7,185 new consultation requests, of which 3,408 were for our hospital's patients and 3,777 were not for our hospital's patients).
We work as a multidisciplinary team with physicians, nurses, medical social workers, and clinical psychologists. We provide the following services:
1) Consultation, Counseling and Support Service
2) Group programs for patients and their families
3) Multidisciplinary team support beyond departments
4) Collaborative support with other hospitals and institutions
Center for Patient Flow Management
Center for Patient Flow Management is in charge of centralized bed control in our hospital in coordination with ward managers.
1) Pre-admission support is being promoted in cooperation with Center for Supportive Care Service, while discharge support is being promoted in cooperation with Center for Physician Referral and Medical Social Service.
2) A bed occupancy analysis tool for bed control was established in cooperation with the Medical Information Department.
3) An emergency hospital bed coordination system has been established based on efficient association with clinical departments and hospital wards to manage COVID-19-related reduction of active beds.
Center for Supportive Care Service
Center for Supportive Care Service works with nurses, psychologists, medical social workers, and specialists from various professions to provide support for various anxieties, worries, and troubles during and post-treatment period of every patient.
1) The average daily number of patients using the consultation program at Center for Supportive Care Service was 210 in FY2022. This was an increase compared to FY2021 (183 patients).
2) The number of participants for the regular programs in FY2022 is also increasing compared to FY2021 (Table 1). Additionally, nursing consultation, AYA pier, parent and child support, anticancer drug treatment support, lymphedema care class, clinical trials class, etc., were also conducted.
3) Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, patient programs continued to be held with a limited number of participants, and some classes were held in an online or hybrid format.
4) Reproductive support team is working to support our hospital’s patients in reproducing, and is also in charge of cooperation with other reproductive health care facilities.
Figure 1. Number of new patients
Table 1. The number of participants in the regular programs
Research Activities
Center for Physician Referral and Medical Social Service
For a research project titled "Support for Cancer Patients in the AYA to Middle Age Generation," we were in charge of support for work compatibility and promoted the construction of an online consultation system. The research was adopted by the Yuumi Memorial Foundation for Home Health Care for a grant as "Research on home care for cancer patients in the COVID-19 pandemic," and research has been initiated. We have held 19 webinars on regional cooperation and 7 conferences on cooperation with medical institutions.
Center for Supportive Care Service
In the perioperative outpatient clinic, a comprehensive functional assessment of the elderly was conducted for elderly colorectal surgery patients.
Based on the results of nursing consultation, trends in the timing and content of consultation needs were predicted according to the background characteristics of patients' families, cancer treatment contents, and progress, and a support system according to the needs was discussed.
Reproductive support team began to investigate the online/email consultation system in the "Research on the usefulness of online/email consultation on reproductive functions of AYA to middle age generation cancer patients".
Clinical Trials
We perform an "on-the-job training" for new staff by senior staff in charge of nursing consultation and perioperative support unit.
Future Prospects
Center for Physician Referral and Medical Social Service
We practice high-quality cancer counseling and support, develop models and disseminate the results throughout Japan.
Center for Patient Flow Management
Center for Patient Flow Management aims to achieve several goals within this year.
1) To develop an efficient system to maintain an appropriate hospital bed usage rate, especially during weekends and long holidays.
2) To increase the number of patients who receive pre-admission and post-discharge support by medical staff.
Center for Supportive Care Service
The Patient Support Center offers multidisciplinary team support units and patient classes to meet the various unmet needs of patients with cancer. Still, it is essential to evaluate whether our efforts are appropriate and whether they result in a good patient experience.
We aim to improve patient satisfaction by understanding the patient journey of each patient with cancer and improving the patient experience.