Optimum care for breast-cancer patients with bone metastases
Patients with bone metastases often experience osteological complications, which can be both clinically severe and very painful. So failure to treat these growths quickly has quality-of-life as well as cost implications. To improve the medical outlook for breast-cancer patients with this added condition, a leading Dutch hospital therefore decided to optimize its care cycle in partnership with a pharmaceutical company. With the result intended to serve as best practice for it and other hospitals, this would be a good example of a shift to value-based healthcare (VBHC). Our client, the pharmaceutical company, asked Vintura to facilitate this.
The best approach for clinicians and patients
The final cycle was determined at a series of multidisciplinary sessions for the hospital’s care providers, including doctors and nursing specialists. To ensure that their perspective was heeded, we also conducted interviews with breast-cancer patients to better understand the full spectrum of their needs – medical, psychological and in terms of information. These allowed us to further enhance the process.
Immediate improvement following implementation
The hospital has now implemented the new care cycle, with specific improvements including its integration with electronic patient records, clear agreements between medical oncologists and nursing specialists, and standardized information. Resulting in better care for dozens of patients. Consultations are more harmonized, and greater attention is paid to the psychosocial aspects of the condition. Moreover, the benefits of the change have spread as it has been adopted as best practice by a number of other hospitals, supported by the pharmaceutical company. Another great thing about this project is that it shows exactly what Vintura is all about: achieving meaningful impact in healthcare, with the aim of providing patients with the best care while keeping it affordable.
