Mayo Clinic Cancer Center in Phoenix has implemented a system that schedules outpatient chemotherapy appointments throughout the day to avoid crowding in its facilities, the center said March 29.
Kristin Altman, a nurse manager in charge of the center's chemotherapy unit, said traditional scheduling leads to too many appointments between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. She said appointments should begin early, stay level and drop off at the end of the day.
Researchers used a scheduling template with an optimization approach to determine when to schedule different patient types based on treatment duration while optimizing staff utilization. The human solution to the issue was successfully implemented at a clinic. The research that led to the implementation of the system was published in JCO Oncology Practice.
"This schedule allows the nursing team to maintain optimal and efficient staffing, and it decreases patient waiting times and unanticipated delays," Ms. Altman stated.