Annual Report 2024
Patient Flow Support Center
Hiroyuki Fujimoto, Eriko Satomi, Ayako Mori, Tsutomu Hayashi, Hidehito Horinouchi, Shintaro Iwata, Naoko Inamura, Michiko Ohki, Takeyuki Wada, Sawako Kaku, Rieko Shimizu, Natsuko Moroi, Naoko Matsunaga, Miho Koitabashi, Mariko Shimizu, Masako Yabumoto, Ryoko Maeda, Yukimi Ikeda, Akane Sakamoto, Sanae Sawase, Daiki Murakami, Mayu Takada, Reiko Hanada, Fumiko Onishi, Asuka Kijima, Yukari Tokuhisa, Yoshiko Takahashi, Shiori Yamaoka,, Mami Hoshikawa, Momoko Takahashi, Naoko Arii, Saemi Ide, Yuka Huruta, Ayako Hara, Reiko Kojima, Miho Noguchi, Naoka Kimura, Sayaka Kurata, Kana Ineno, Tomoyo Sasamoto, Kimiko Ohdaira, Akiko Ueno, Uma Inatomi, Chieko Kamiya, Ayumi Terada, Ayako Taneshima, Naomi Terada, Mayumi Terayama
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
We work as a multidisciplinary team with physicians, nurses, medical social workers, and clinical psychologists. We provide the following services:
Center for Physician Referral and Medical Social Service
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
Face-to-face and telephone counseling are available. Any inquiries related to cancer such as cancer treatment and financial, social and psychological issues are willingly accepted. We also make efforts to support special cases such as job-seeking and infertility issues. Since 2013, we have cooperated with a "Hello Work Navigator" of a Public Employment Security Office, a job-finding advisor, and social insurance labor consultants to help cancer patients find new jobs and to provide professional advice regarding the compatibility of cancer therapy and work. Moreover, we collaborate with Rare Cancer Center Hotline.
2. Group programs for patients and their families
3. Multidisciplinary team support beyond departments
4. Collaborative support with other hospitals and institutions
5. Educational web seminar
6. Management of patient referrals from local hospital and coordination of transfers and referrals within our hospital.
The total number of inquiries from April 2024 to March 2025 was 24,892. There were 16,110 new cases, 12,599 of which involved patients registered in the NCC Hospital. We address various problems of cancer patients and their families.
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 216 in FY2024 (217 in FY2023).
2) The number of participants for the regular programs in FY2024 is described in Table 1. Several patient education sessions were held in a hybrid format, combining online and in-person components.
3) We introduced the orientation video for patients who received surgery in a QR-code format, enabling patients and their families to view it anytime, anywhere.
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
We are conducting a questionnaire survey for users of the perioperative outpatient clinic. To date, we have received responses from approximately 100 users before and after the intervention. Moving forward, we plan to analyze these data, provide feedback to the perioperative outpatient clinic staff, and report the research findings at academic conferences.
Training
We perform an "on-the-job training" for new staff by senior staff in charge of nursing consultation and perioperative support unit.
We lecture and act as facilitators in seminars for the education of cancer counseling and support specialists.
Future Prospects
Center for Physician Referral and Medical Social Service
We practice high-quality physician referral, cancer counseling and support, develop models and disseminate the results throughout Japan. We are creating a database to address various inquiries and are developing systems for consultations not only by our counselors but also through IT.
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.