The oncology department of Massachusetts General Hospital wants to expand the oncology lab to include additional equipment and procedure rooms.

Case Study #1

The oncology department of Massachusetts General Hospital wants to expand the oncology lab to include additional equipment and procedure rooms. Multiple oncologists have mentioned that there seems to be an increase in the number of patients and number of oncology procedures performed. The hospital CIO was asked to evaluate the request and provide an initial report to the Board of Directors. The CIO worked with the vice president of clinical operations to write the report. Using the procedure and physician indices within EHR, the CIO and VP completed a 15-year historical analysis of all oncology patients and procedures. They identified inpatient and outpatient procedures, documented the number of outpatients who were also oncology inpatients at some point, and reviewed wait times for scheduling of procedures. Five years of historical data was available in the current EHR for wait-time analysis. The previous system was not able to track wait times for scheduling.

The CIO and VP identified financial data, how reimbursement of procedure varied by type of insurance, including cost analysis of each procedure, average length of stay (if inpatient), profit margins of each procedure, and MS-DRG analysis performed on inpatient cases. They performed physician profiles to identify which and how many procedures were performed by each oncologist. Using external data provided by the city government and local economic development council, the CIO and VP made population projections for the next 30 years and found an increase in the local population of the over-60 age group. They generated anticipated oncology services and procedures using predictive statistical modeling.

Based on the information the CIO and VP collected, they projected how many additional staff members and physicians might be needed and made space allocations for the increased number of procedure rooms. They are currently investigating the cost of additional equipment needed and completing a renovation budget and timeline. They expect to present their findings to the board by the end of the first quarter, and a final decision should be reached by the end of August.

Q1: Identify and describe at least three new oncology procedures that are projected to make a significant impact on the delivery of oncology services in the next two decades.

Q2: Identify and discuss projected growth patterns in the US population in the over-60 age groups.

Q3: Identify and elaborate on the additional staff needed in this case study- both inpatient and outpatient.