Long term trends at a comprehensive cancer center during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: As the ongoing public health crisis from Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic puts strains on current models of cancer care, many health care centers had to adapt to minimize the risk of exposure and infection. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in a comprehensive cancer center were determined. AIMS: To measure the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on care delivery at a comprehensive cancer center. METHODS: The number of on-site and telehealth visits (TH) were obtained from scheduling software. Multiple factors including total visits, telehealth visits, screenings for cancer diagnosis, and cancer treatments were tracked from 2 years before the pandemic onset through 2022. The length of stay (LOS) and Case Mix Index (CMI) were calculated using hospital database. RESULTS: In the third quarter of FY 2020, telehealth visits (TH) represented a fifth of total patient encounters. Cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and surgery, decreased during the pandemic with number of surgeries being most affected (23% decrease in 2020 compared to the previous fiscal year). The average length of stay (LOS) was also longer with less discharges per given time during the pandemic. The increased LOS was related to increased severity of patient illnesses since CMI was higher. Screening mammograms decreased to a nadir of 58% in 2021 as compared to those screened in pre-pandemic fiscal years. CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic impacted many aspects of care, such as treatment and screenings. Many of these factors had to be postponed due to the fear of acquiring COVID-19 and access to care. The findings presented implicate that the delays and changes in cancer care during the pandemic resulted in less screening and treatment of more advanced disease.

An Internet-based cancer clinical trials matching resource.

BACKGROUND: Many patients are now accessing the Internet to obtain cancer clinical trials information. However, services offering clinical trials recruitment information have not been well defined. OBJECTIVES: This study describes one of the first Web-based cancer clinical trials matching resources and the demographics of users who were successfully matched. METHODS: OncoLink is the Internet-based educational resource managed by the University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center (UPCC) and serves between 1 and 2 million pages per month to over 385000 unique IP addresses. OncoLink launched one of the first clinical trials matching resources on the Internet that allowed patients to enter demographic data through a secure connection and be matched to clinical trials. For patients with matches to potential trials, appointments were facilitated with the principal investigators. RESULTS: While we did not keep track of patients who could not be matched, 627 patients who submitted online applications between January 2002 and April 2003 were successfully matched for potential enrollment in clinical trials. The mean age of the patient population was 56 years (range 18-88 years). Males represented 60% of the patient population, and over 90% of users were Caucasian. Most of the applications were from patients with colorectal cancer (13%), lung cancer (14%), melanoma (10%), and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (9%). CONCLUSIONS: This report shows that a significant number of patients are willing to use the Internet for enrolling in clinical trials. Care must be taken to reach patients from a variety of socioeconomic and racial backgrounds. This Internet resource helps to facilitate a consultation with a cancer patient who is prescreened and motivated to enroll in clinical trials.