A cancer center department of supportive oncology: Patient demographic characteristics.

Abstract

e13518 Background: Supportive Oncology is critical to whole-person, modern cancer care. Our Department of Supportive Oncology (DSO) provides the following services: palliative medicine, senior oncology, integrative oncology, cancer survivorship, genetics, cancer rehabilitation, oncology nutrition, patient navigation, and psycho-oncology. Little is known on the patient population who access these services which makes program development difficult. We describe the key demographic variables in a Supportive Oncology Department (DSO) for age, payor, gender, language preference, and race across our health system, geographical locations, and DSO services. Methods: Patient encounters, as noted in the EMR, were analyzed in a Microsoft PowerBI (www.microsoft.com) database using visits from July 1, 2022 through December 31, 2023. Variables were pre-defined by the healthcare system. Descriptive statistics in grouped frequency distribution tables were used. Results: Female, White, English-speakers (respectively) were the top utilizers across our healthcare system (57%,62%,94%), the oncology service line (64%,69%,97%), and DSO (68%,68%,96%). By gender, females were predominant users (84%) of Integrative Oncology & Survivorship services. Males used Senior Oncology & Palliative Medicine most often of all DSO services (45%). Differences in race were noted in geography (Black urban 26% vs rural 18%). In DSO services, Black patients access for senior oncology/palliative medicine (combined) was highest at 26%. Lowest utilization for Blacks was psycho-oncology & genetics at 18 and 13% respectively. While the overall system had more managed care (55%), both the oncology service line and DSO had more Medicare and less Medicaid. DSO had more managed care (46%) than the service line (42%). In rural settings, DSO patients (39%) were more likely to be in managed care than those in the service line (34%). DSO had more patients in younger age groups (ages 45-64, 42%) than both the oncology service line (35%) and the health system (24%), regardless of urban/rural location. In both the health system and the oncology service line, younger patients were more likely to be in urban locations and older were more likely rural. For DSO services, younger patients (ages 18-44) were more involved in psychology (27%), genetics (26%), and integrative & survivorship care (19%). Older patients were more likely to utilize palliative medicine and senior oncology (ages > 65, 47%). Conclusions: This Supportive Oncology population reveals variation in service access related to demographic characteristics that can inform future program development. Important similarities and differences were noted compared to the wider oncology service line and health system. Age, gender, geographic, payor, and racial disparities may influence service utilization in Supportive Oncology.