An alternative outpatient chemotherapy scheduling system improved a cancer center’s patient service quality and staff satisfaction, researchers concluded after conducting a recent analysis. Investigators analyzed management models across various practice settings at the center, and then created a model to optimize safety/efficiency. They tested the system in a chemotherapy unit, looking at staffing violations in the form of nurse-to-patient ratios throughout the workday and at key points during treatment. Among there results:

• The new model required fewer chairs to treat the same number of patients for a clinic day.
• Maximum chair utilization was reduced by 18%.
• Staffing violations were lowered by 27%.
• A positive impact on peak pharmacy workload reduced delays by as much as 35 minutes.