November 1, 2006
In designing new building, Dana-Farber group envisions cancer care in 2020
View from Joslin Park of what the Center for Cancer Care may look like when it is completed in 2011.
Designing a cancer center to meet Dana-Farber's hallmarks of leading-edge, compassionate, and efficient care is sufficiently challenging. But years from now, with the evolution of cancer care and research, what might patient care be like?
Last summer, more than 300 members from the Dana-Farber community helped to answer that question as part of a planning process for the soon-to-be-built Center for Cancer Care. The "2020 Visioning Process" aimed to shape the Institute's vision for 2020 to ensure that the new building is designed to accommodate future trends in cancer care and research, says Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Janet Porter, PhD.
With the help of the healthcare strategic planning firm, Kurt Salmon Associates, physicians, staff, architects, patients, and families participated in various forums to address questions essential to the design of the new building. As part of this process, the group envisioned the following as likely directions for future patient care:
- Increasingly customized care. A patient's unique physiology, together with the molecular biologic specifics of his or her cancer, will be used more than ever to design individualized treatment plans.
- Multidisciplinary care approach. There will be larger care teams treating a more diverse patient population. Medical specialties and disciplines both clinical and research will become more closely connected and collaborative, and nearly every patient will benefit from, and take part in, research. More patients will participate in clinical trials and will come from farther away to do so. Exam and infusion areas on each floor will support the model of patients being cared for by a primary nursing team.
- Enhanced operations and flow. Patients will register, schedule, and consult with their care teams through the convenience of the Internet. Blood will be drawn right away and evaluated quickly in a nearby lab, allowing for highly specific analysis and treatment. Basic procedures will become more common and will occur in well-equipped exam rooms. A centralized suite of procedure rooms will be available for most procedures requiring conscious sedation.
- Technological advances. Imaging technology will be even more important in making a diagnosis and defining the course of therapies. Imaging will be key in determining, early on, the potential benefits and drawbacks of a particular treatment, allowing for immediate adjustments to the treatment plan. Improved targeting, and procedures to reduce collateral toxicity - damage from chemotherapy to any part of the body other than the cancer may make infusion visits longer but less arduous. Cancer education and information for patients, clinicians, scientists, and staff will be more readily accessible than ever.
- Personalized, compassionate care. Patients will demand more choice in their treatment environment; some will seek privacy while others will want community. Clinical space will support private conversations with multiple caregivers in surroundings that are comfortable for both patients and families. Patients will experience Dana-Farber even more as an environment conducive to healing.
In spite of these anticipated changes, some elements of Dana-Farber must never change. "Leading research efforts and respectful, patient-focused, and compassionate care will continue to differentiate DFCI," says Chief Medical Officer Larry Shulman, MD. "Every effort is being made to design a new building that enhances our ability to meet our goals. For example, a more multidisciplinary environment will allow us to accelerate translating research from bench to bedside and provide the best possible care to our patients."
Anne Gross, RN, MS, vice president for Adult Ambulatory Services and director of Adult Ambulatory Nursing, adds, "No matter how far technology advances, personal relationships will always be important. The passionate and personal care to patients and families that distinguishes our care will only be enhanced by the new space."
As Mary Dana Gershanoff, a member of the Adult Patient and Family Advisory Council notes, "A satisfied, well-served patient is one who is cared for by a satisfied, well-served caregiver."
