A business intelligence-enabled dashboard collected and analyzed data on emergency department (ED) visits, admits, and discharges, which was then used to improve patient triage and evaluation. After targeted in-service training and education to clinical teams and patients on utilization of the Express Symptom Management program, only 2% of patients needed to be seen in the ED, with the rest receiving symptom management by phone, participating in a virtual clinic visit, and/or coming into the infusion suite for in-person assessment and treatment. Improvement efforts around patient self-management and triage to the Express Symptom Management program also included development of a pre- and post-initial infusion visit via Epic MyChart.
The express symptom management team was able to help patients with cancer in managing their symptoms over the phone, in person, or, when indicated, through hospital admission. To assist in fine-tuning the express symptom management program, staff at Orlando Health Cancer Institute implemented a business intelligence dashboard to collect data on patients with cancer who presented to the ED.
The substantial strain placed on health care workers and organizations by unnecessary ED visits prompted Orlando Health Cancer Institute to develop their express symptom management program in July 2021. The program was designed to effectively triage and treat cancer related symptoms in the outpatient setting.