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. 2021 Jan;71(1):34-46.
doi: 10.3322/caac.21644. Epub 2020 Sep 30.

Planning for post-pandemic cancer care delivery: Recovery or opportunity for redesign?

Pelin Cinar  1   2 , Richard Bold  3 , Bryn A Bosslet  4 , Daniela A Bota  5 , Debra Burgess  3 , Helen K Chew  3 , Joshua G Cohen  6   7 , Emad Elquza  5 , Kathryn A Gold  8 , Emi Kamiya  9 , Beth Y Karlan  6   7 , Rana R McKay  8 , Sandip P Patel  8 , Kimberly Ternavan  9 , Jeanna Welborn  3 , Maki Yamamoto  5 , Hope S Rugo  1   2
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Planning for post-pandemic cancer care delivery: Recovery or opportunity for redesign?

Pelin Cinar et al. CA Cancer J Clin. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

The delivery of cancer care has never changed as rapidly and dramatically as we have seen with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. During the early phase of the pandemic, recommendations for the management of oncology patients issued by various professional societies and government agencies did not recognize the significant regional differences in the impact of the pandemic. California initially experienced lower than expected numbers of cases, and the health care system did not experience the same degree of the burden that had been the case in other parts of the country. In light of promising trends in COVID-19 infections and mortality in California, by late April 2020, discussions were initiated for a phased recovery of full-scale cancer services. However, by July 2020, a surge of cases was reported across the nation, including in California. In this review, the authors share the response and recovery planning experience of the University of California (UC) Cancer Consortium in an effort to provide guidance to oncology practices. The UC Cancer Consortium was established in 2017 to bring together 5 UC Comprehensive Cancer Centers: UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, UC Los Angeles Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, UC Irvine Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, and the UC San Francisco Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. The interventions implemented in each of these cancer centers are highlighted, with a focus on opportunities for a redesign in care delivery models. The authors propose that their experiences gained during this pandemic will enhance pre-pandemic cancer care delivery.

Keywords: cancer care delivery; coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); health care delivery; pandemics.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Confirmed Cases and Deaths Related to Coronavirus Disease 2019 in California Between March 19 and July 22, 2020.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Race and Ethnicity Data for the University of California (UC) Cancer Centers between January 2012 and March 2020. UCD indicates UC Davis; UCI, UC Irvine; UCLA, UC Los Angeles; UCSD, UC San Diego; UCSF, UC San Francisco.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Guidance on Interventions That Can Be Implemented at Oncology Practices During the Recovery Phase. COVID‐19 indicates coronavirus disease 2019.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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