title: Pilot study on workload estimate in breast cancer, lung cancer and colorectal cancer in a Medical Oncology Service at Valme hospital.
abstract: New advances in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and the increased incidence and prevalence of this disease have led to an increase in the number and duration of visits in Medical Oncology in the last few years. Based on the functions of a medical oncologist and the time recommended for each work activity established by the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM), we carried out a pilot study on the three most frequent neoplasias in our country [breast cancer (BC), lung cancer (LC) and colorectal cancer (CRC)], in order to determine the real time each patient requires from a physician and thus establish a recommendation on the number of medical oncologists necessary. Using the actual itinerary of the first 20 patients of 2009 in each of the three neoplasias seen at the Medical Oncology Service of the Virgen de Valme University Hospital, we measured the number of visits, the antineoplastic treatments received, the number of hospital admissions and average length of stay. During the years following the study, these data were estimated based on the natural history of each neoplasia. During the first year, the average time spent by the medical oncologist was 235, 390 and 265 min on each outpatient with BC, LC and CRC, respectively. In hospitalisation, the average oncologist/patient minutes were 40, 360 and 118 for BC, LC and CRC, respectively. Finally, the time spent on each visit or day of hospitalisation was that recommended by the SEOM, achieving an ultimate ratio of 1 oncologist for every 83 first visits.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Oncología Médica, Avda. Cádiz s/nº, 41014, Sevilla, Spain. jsalvad2002@yahoo.es
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Salvador
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Grávalos
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Albanell
authors.forename: Agustin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barnadas
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Borrega
authors.forename: Jesús
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: García-Mata
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Garrido
authors.forename: Encarnación
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gonzalez-Flores
authors.forename: Dolores
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Isla
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lomas
authors.forename: Alvaro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Lescure
authors.forename: Juan Jesus
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Cruz
authors.forename: Emilio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Alba
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000191:economics; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000191:economics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000191:economics; D009819:Office Visits / Q000639:trends; D016522:Oncology Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D016526:Workload