The Duke Institute for Health Innovation will fund two new, collaborative faculty projects that aim to improve care for breast cancer patients and individuals undergoing stem cell transplants.
The projects are the first to be funded by Duke's new multidisciplinary institute that promotes innovation in health care through research, leadership development and entrepreneurship. Here are the project details:
Breast Cancer Care Maps: A Multi-use EHR-based Process Improvement Project for Coordination of Cancer Care (Authors: Shelley Hwang, MD, MPH, professor of surgery; Kelly Marcom, MD, associate professor of medicine (Medical Oncology); Ilona Stashko, senior IT analyst at Duke Health Technology Solutions; Steve Power, administrative director of quality initiatives at Duke Cancer Institute; Sohayla Pruitt, senior IT analyst at Duke Health Technology Solutions; and Carolyn Carpenter, administrator and associate dean of the Duke Cancer Institute).
This pilot will create breast cancer care maps that use patient, tumor and order information from Duke's electronic health record and data warehouse to improve patient understanding of treatment plans and physician adherence to evidence-based care guidelines.
Patient-centered medical home care for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (Authors: Nelson Chao, MD, MBA, chief of the Division of Hematological Malignancies and Cellular Therapy and professor of medicine and immunology; Amy Abernethy, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine (Medical Oncology) and nursing; Patrick Seed, MD, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics and assistant professor of molecular genetics, microbiology, and surgery; and Carolyn Carpenter, administrator and associate dean of the Duke Cancer Institute).
This pilot will develop a "short stay" adult bone marrow transplant that "brings the hospital to the patient" instead of requiring that patients remain in the hospital for three months. This approach will reduce patient exposure to hospital-based infections, thereby improving outcomes and reducing costs related to avoidable complications and unnecessary hospitalizations.
Read more about the pilot projects.