Journal of Healthcare Management - January/February 2014 - (Page 24)

Journal of H ealt H care M anage Ment 59:1 J anuary /f ebruary 2014 Expanding research The NCCCP is evidence that, by engaging management and key physicians, community hospitals can contribute to the emerging science through clinical trials, high-quality biospecimen collection, and quality improvement research relevant to the entire cancer care continuum. initiatives for cancer research posed a critical challenge from the outset of the project. By the pilot's end, many NCCCP hospitals were collecting biospecimens using standardized collection and storage procedures; this activity helped build a community-based research platform where patient data and high-quality blood and tissue samples could be used to support genomically informed medicine. At the end of the pilot, three sites were contributing biospecimens and clinical data to The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) program and five sites were contributing biospecimens to the Moffitt Cancer Center Total Cancer Care longitudinal molecular characterization study. The technical assistance provided by NCI, the role of the learning collaborative among pathologists, and funding support from hospital executive management contributed to these accomplishments (Dalton et al., 2012). Increasing Patient Participation in Clinical Trials Although some of the NCCCP hospitals found it difficult to improve accruals, most were generally able to broaden their clinical trials portfolio, increase memberships in NCI-sponsored cooperative groups (research), and increase the number of local physicians accruing patients to clinical trials. The hospitals made significant infrastructure investments beyond their NCCCP awards to expand their clinical trials research capacity. Access to research for underserved populations remains a challenge for NCI. However, the NCCCP's focus on disparities and the investment in clinical trials infrastructure allowed for the overall accrual of minority patients to clinical trials across the participating sites to almost double, from 82 patients at baseline to 151 at the end of the pilot. Similarly, accrual of older patients (aged 65 or older) increased from 200 at baseline to 641 at the end of the pilot, which compared favorably to national trends (Abernethy & Locke, 2012). Expanding Information Technology to Support Research Due to the longitudinal nature of cancer care, oncology-specific EHRs are important for research as well as for quality of care. The NCCCP hospitals made significant progress in this area. By the end of the pilot, all 16 sites had EHRs with oncology-specific modules either implemented or in deployment. Sites noted that their participation with the NCCCP network enabled them to recognize the importance of data for their cancer program and draw attention to informatics needs. In many cases, this new focus led to increased budget and executive management engagement, making IT for these hospitals' cancer programs a higher priority. Promoting High-Quality Biospecimen Collection The limited ability of community hospitals to participate in biospecimen 24

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Journal of Healthcare Management - January/February 2014

Journal of Healthcare Management - January/February 2014
Contents
Interview With Kenneth R. White, PhD, FACHE, Associate Dean for Strategic Partnerships and Innovation and the University of Virginia Medical Center Professor of Nursing, University of Virginia School of Nursing
Team-Based Care at Mayo Clinic: A Model for ACOs
The Management Springboard: Eight Ways to Launch Your Career as a Healthcare Leader
The Role of a Public–Private Partnership: Translating Science to Improve Cancer Care in the Community Donna M. O’Brien and Arnold D. Kaluzny
The Value of Patients’ Handwritten Comments on HCAHPS Surveys John W. Huppertz and Robert Smith
Can Inbound and Domestic Medical Tourism Improve Your Bottom Line? Identifying the Potential of a U.S. Tourism Market
Success Factors for Strategic Change Initiatives: A Qualitative Study of Healthcare Administrators’ Perspectives

Journal of Healthcare Management - January/February 2014