Download Easing the Burden for Cancer Patients Alan Powell M. D. Anderson

Easing the Burden for Cancer Patients
Alan Powell
M. D. Anderson Cancer Center - Houston
About M. D. Anderson
• Academic medical center – component of
the University of Texas System
• One of three original Comprehensive
Cancer Centers in U.S.
• Mission areas: patient care, research,
education and prevention
About M. D. Anderson
• FY2008 profile
– Total patients served: 89,110
– New patients: 29,463
– #1 in number of grants awarded and total
grants given by the NCI
– Active clinical protocols: 1,108
– 6,000 learners participated in educational
programs
myMDAnderson
• Secure web portals for patients and
external/community physicians
• Goals:
– Meet changing needs & expectations for
online tools
– Improve customer service, support and
communication processes
– Compliance for security & privacy regulations
Strategy Development Patients
• Patient research
– Focus groups and interviews
– User experience mapping
– Patients expressed clear priorities
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Help with appointment scheduling
Communication with care team and support units
Easier ways to fill out forms
Information on resources and services
Help with anxiety and uncertainties
Key Features for Patients
• Pre-registration
• Appointments
– Schedules
– Reminders via e-mail
– Online change requests
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Patient education & FAQs
Demographic updates
Prescription refills
Online billing & payment
• Secure web-based
messaging
– Replaces e-mail for privacy
& security
– Pushes e-mail notifications
– Categorized
– Routed to teams
– Archived
– Tracked & measured
• Access to medical
records (added May-09)
Patient Feedback
• “I enjoy being able to check my appointments and
messages without using the telephone as I am just 3
weeks post-laryngectomy and talking is difficult.”
• “I know your clinic staff are extremely busy and this cuts
down on phone time for all.”
• “With a secure message, I can get to it between patients
and the patient doesn’t have to wait as long to hear back
from me.”
• “I absolutely love the personalized website and being
able to check on my appointments and even
reschedule.”
Strategy Development Physicians
• Physician research
– Physician satisfaction surveys
– Focus groups
– Face-to-face solution sessions
– Physician priorities
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Efficient patient referral process
Effective communications
Access to medical records
Improved continuity of care
Key Features for Physicians
• New patient referrals
– Includes detailed questions
to support automated
routing to correct treatment
center
• Secure web-based
messaging
• Patient appointments
• Access to dedicated
physician relations team
• Medical Records
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Vital signs
Medications
Allergies/reactions
Blood bank/transfusion
Dictated notes
Pathology reports*
Radiology reports*
Lab test results*
Survivorship passport
*Real-time for physicians; seven days
delay for patients
Physician Feedback
• “I visited the myMDAnderson site and found it very
useful. I didn’t realize how many patients were treated at
M. D. Anderson via my referral or involvement.”
• “I am very pleased with this web site. My patients seem
to be seen sooner. I am going to make all my referrals
through myMDAnderson.”
• I am very happy with myMDAnderson. The more I use it,
the more I like it!”
General Metrics
• Total patients signed up: 87,000
– Increases about 2,000/month
• Patient log-ins per week: 27,000
• Patient secure messages per week: 4,200
• Total physicians signed up: 4,800
– Increases about 130/month
Access to Medical Records
• Period: May 2009
• Patients
– Unique users: 15,814
– Medical records access: 4,810 (30%)
• Physicians
– Unique users: 480
– Medical records access: 296 (61%)
Lessons Learned/Best Practices
• Involvement & support from clinical
operations leadership and physicians
– Drives staff buy-in & utilization
• Resources for staff training (ongoing)
• Proactive communication with users
– E.g., “This is the best way to reach us.”
• Minimize impact on physician time
• Use metrics to manage the process
Recognition
• TASSCC (State of Texas) Excellence
Award
• CHIME-CHT Transformational Leadership
Award
• e-Healthcare Leadership Award
Future Plans
• Personal health
records – meet
emerging standards
for exchange of PHI
• Documents exchange
• Integration with public
web site
• Support for clinical
research
• Share more data from
medical record
• Two-way integration
with EMR
• Drive more adoption
and usage, both
internal and external
• Do more to address
“information anxiety”
Questions?
Alan Powell
Director, Internet Services
M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, Texas
713-745-7698
[email protected]