Congress Abstracts 2003

74

A UROLOGIC CANCER SECOND OPINION SERVICE: HELPING PATIENTS MAKE INFORMED TREATMENT DECISIONS. Melissa K. Kratz, RN, MSN, AOCN^®, Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network, Allentown, PA.

The diagnosis of cancer often leaves the patient and family feeling overwhelmed confused and in search of answers to questions they may have not yet even formulated. In many cases, the patient is coordinator of their care and is accountable to relay information to multiple physician specialists and family members to, in turn, make an informed treatment decision.

At Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network, we recognized the challenges and turmoil patients face in their quest to determine an optimum treatment plan, and created a program, which we believe is the only one of its kind in our region. The program is a “Urologic Cancer Second Opinion Service” whose target audience are patients diagnosed with prostate, bladder, testicular, or kidney cancer. The hallmark of this innovative service is a consultation with up to four different attending physician specialists—a urologic oncologist, urologist, medical oncologist, and radiation oncologist—during a single appointment. Other unique aspects of the service include the following: A nurse remains with the patient throughout their consultation and assures all questions are answered, including a follow-up telephone call the next day; patients leave the appointment with written treatment options; patients and their family members are encouraged to be active participants in the consultation process; the consultation is scheduled within two weeks of the request; the patient is given information regarding available clinical trials; and, the nurse coordinator for the service assumes responsibility for investigating third party payment and obtaining and verifying patient records, radiology studies, and pathology slides. The program has been operational since August 2000 and, to date, we have seen over 100 patients. Outcomes include a high degree of patient satisfaction as measured by an internally developed valid and reliable survey and fulfillment of our mission as a regional referral cancer center. Poster participants will be given a copy of the poster itself, the “Urologic Cancer Second Opinion Service” brochure, and the patient satisfaction survey.