title: Time and Resources Needed to Document Patients with Breast Cancer from Primary Diagnosis to Follow-up - Results of a Single-center Study.
abstract: Aim:Certification of breast centers helps improve the quality of care but requires additional resources, particularly for documentation. There are currently no published data on the actual staff costs and financial resources required for such documentation. The aim of this study was to determine the time and resources required to document a patient with primary breast cancer from diagnosis to the end of follow-up, to establish a database for future strategic decisions.Material and Methods:All diagnostic and therapeutic procedures of patients with primary breast cancer were recorded at the University Breast Center of Franconia. All time points for documentation were evaluated using structured interviews. The times required to document a representative number of patients were determined and combined with the staff costs of the different professional groups, to calculate the financial resources required for documentation.Results:A total of 494 time points for documentation were identified. The study also identified 21 departments and 20 different professional groups involved in the documentation. The majority (54 %) of documentation was done by physicians. 62 % of all documentation involved outpatients. The results of different scenarios for the diagnosis, therapy and follow-up of breast cancer patients in a certified breast center showed that the time required for documentation can be as much as 105 hours, costing € 4135.Conclusion:This analysis shows the substantial staffing and financial costs required for documentation in certified centers. A multi-center study will be carried out to compare the costs for certified breast centers of varying sizes with the costs of non-certified care facilities.
authors.affiliation: Frauenklinik, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, CCC ER-EMN, Universitäts-Brustzentrum Franken, Erlangen.
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Lux
authors.affiliation: Frauenklinik, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, CCC ER-EMN, Universitäts-Brustzentrum Franken, Erlangen.
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Sell
authors.affiliation: Frauenklinik, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, CCC ER-EMN, Universitäts-Brustzentrum Franken, Erlangen.
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Fasching
authors.affiliation: Frauenklinik, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, CCC ER-EMN, Universitäts-Brustzentrum Franken, Erlangen.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Seidl-Ertel
authors.affiliation: Frauenklinik, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, CCC ER-EMN, Universitäts-Brustzentrum Franken, Erlangen.
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Bani
authors.affiliation: Frauenklinik, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, CCC ER-EMN, Universitäts-Brustzentrum Franken, Erlangen.
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Schrauder
authors.affiliation: Frauenklinik, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, CCC ER-EMN, Universitäts-Brustzentrum Franken, Erlangen.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Jud
authors.affiliation: Frauenklinik, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, CCC ER-EMN, Universitäts-Brustzentrum Franken, Erlangen.
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Loehberg
authors.affiliation: Frauenklinik, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, CCC ER-EMN, Universitäts-Brustzentrum Franken, Erlangen.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rauh
authors.affiliation: Pathologisches Institut der Universität Erlangen, CCC ER-EMN, Universitäts-Brustzentrum Franken, Erlangen.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hartmann
authors.affiliation: Radiologisches Institut, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, CCC ER-EMN, Universitäts-Brustzentrum Franken, Erlangen.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schulz-Wendtland
authors.affiliation: Strahlenklinik, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, CCC ER-EMN, Universitäts-Brustzentrum Franken, Erlangen.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Strnad
authors.affiliation: Frauenklinik, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, CCC ER-EMN, Universitäts-Brustzentrum Franken, Erlangen.
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Beckmann
keywords: breast cancer; documentation; personnel costs; quality assurance; resources