Congress Abstracts 2004

55

EXECUTING SUPPORTIVE CARE RESEARCH IN COMMUNITY ONCOLOGY: THE NEW FRONTIER. Nancy Bailey BSN, RN, APRN, BA, MSN, BC, FNP, West Clinic, Memphis, TN; Mark Nelson, RPh, Northwest Medical Specialties, Tacoma, WA; Cathy Maxwell, RN, OCN^®, CCRC, Oncology Hematology Group of South Florida, Miami, FL; Gina Johnson, MSN, APRN, and Marnie Brotherton, RN, West Clinic, Memphis, TN; and Jeri Ashley, RN, MSN, AOCN^®, CCRC, Supportive Oncology Services, Memphis, TN.

Over the past two decades, oncology research has moved from the domain of academic institutions to community oncology where approximately 80% of patients with cancer are currently treated. Simultaneously, there has been an increased volume of supportive care studies examining the management of issues including anemia, neutropenia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, and pain.

Executing supportive care research in the community setting can be a challenge as the processes in these practices are typically designed for clinical practice rather than for research. Research processes may contrast dramatically with those seen of academic institutions and may need to be adapted to accommodate the demands of heavy patient flow and economic pressures.

In this paper, we review the characteristics of an effective research program in relation to supportive care studies and make suggestions regarding how community oncology sites may improve their ability to execute these types of studies.

The full gamut of research domains are examined including securing relevant protocols, contracting, regulatory, project management, clinical execution, screening, data management, monitoring, quality assurance, pharmacy, billing, and administration. Issues that are particularly relevant to community oncology such as the nursing shortage, financial concerns, and special processes, such as collection of quality-of-life data, will be highlighted.
There is tremendous potential for conducting supportive care research in the community setting. Community oncology offers access to vast populations of patients and access to research drugs may provide significant benefits to patients who otherwise might not be able to obtain the latest care. Finding ways to conduct financially and clinically efficient supportive care research is desirable.