Abstract
e17555 Background: Costs of cancer care account for a growing proportion of European health care spending. Despite the rising price of new cancer drugs draws the attention of medical oncologists and decision makers, personnel spending takes the largest share of health care costs. Nonetheless, few data exist about the relationship between workload and human resources demand in a cancer unit. Here we describe an empirical model to determine staffing requirements according to the annual number of patients. Methods: The Department of Oncology at the University Hospital of Udine, Italy, is a computerized Unit within the regional cancer network taking care of about 1,500 pts/year. Each clinical episode is recorded on a centralized database. Standard time limits are set for different types of consultation. We queried the database to obtain the total number of consultations for every pt taken charge of by the Unit during 2006. Considering both the time scheduled for each type of visit and the number of yearly working hours per employee, we could reach a reasonable estimate of the annual physician and nurse hours per pt and of the number of needed personnel. Results: In 2006, each case generated an average of 16 clinical evaluations, with small differences among breast, lung and colorectal cancer. Corresponding physician- and nurse-time per pt was of 8 and 16 hours, respectively. For the first year - in Units with a mean number of 1,500 pts/year - this translates into a global amount of about 12,000 physician- and 24,000 nurse-hours and a needed number of 7 physicians and 13 nurses, respectively. In the second year, the same cases induced a mean of 4.5 consultations; using a similar approach, the demand for additional time and resources could be estimated as well. Conclusions: A preliminary assessment of the time required for different types of consultation, together with a centralized recording of each clinical episode, allows a reasoned estimate of needed time and personnel resources, thus providing a simple tool to determine the total staff expenditure of a cancer unit. No significant financial relationships to disclose.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
