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Management of the child with cancer on an outpatient basis
Insights
Pediatric cancer care is increasingly shifting to outpatient settings, offering families a less disruptive treatment experience. This trend allows more children with cancer to receive care without hospitalization, improving family well-being.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Oncology
- Ambulatory Care
- Healthcare Delivery Models
Background:
- Increasing number of pediatric patients are receiving care on an outpatient basis.
- Parental preference favors ambulatory care over hospitalization for children undergoing treatment.
- The census of pediatric ambulatory patient visits significantly increased from 1969 to 1974.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the trend of increasing outpatient pediatric care.
- To highlight the benefits of ambulatory care for children with cancer and their families.
- To emphasize the need for flexible healthcare systems to adapt to evolving treatment methods.
Main Methods:
- Observational analysis of patient visit data.
- Review of treatment delivery methods for pediatric cancer patients.
- Assessment of parental preferences in pediatric healthcare settings.
Main Results:
- A substantial rise in pediatric ambulatory patient visits observed over a five-year period.
- Demonstration of successful outpatient treatment for some acute lymphoblastic leukemia cases, eliminating the need for hospitalization.
- Increased parental satisfaction with ambulatory care due to reduced disruption to family life.
Conclusions:
- Outpatient pediatric cancer care is a growing and preferred model.
- Flexibility in clinic structure and policies is crucial for accommodating advancements in cancer treatment.
- Future cancer care aims for complete outpatient management, minimizing separation from home and family.
Abstract:
More and more of the children are being cared for on an outpatient basis at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Center. When there is a choice between admitting the child or caring for him on an ambulatory basis, the parent usually chooses the latter. The census of pediatric ambulatory patient visits has increased from 6,000 in 1969, to 14,724 in 1974, as shown in Table 1. Each year the number of procedures increases, and each year more parents find this method of delivering patient care less disruptive to the family unit and more desirable, in every way, for the child under treatment. With the continuing increase in the number of patients and changes in the complexity of treatment, we find ourselves constantly changing our methods of delivering care. Today we have some children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia who have never needed hospitalization; all of their treatment has been given on an outpatient basis. We hope, in the future, that cancer care will become so refined tha the majority of our patients need not be separated from their homes and families-that their care can be given completely on an outpatient basis. In the last five years many changes have been made in treating the child with cancer, and I suspect the next five years will see even greater improvement. It is important, then, when managing the care of this very special child on an ambulatory basis, to keep both the physical structure of the clinic and the clinic policies flexible, in order to accommodate the new methods of treatment that are constantly being introduced.