Cancer Centers Struggle to Keep Up with Demand

LeanTaaS announced its The State of Cancer Centers in 2022 Special Report stemming from a survey conducted in partnership with The Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) in mid-2022. The survey focuses on the operational challenges that infusion centers face more than two years into the pandemic and the way technology can help. 

Demand for infusion services is at a record high. According to the American Cancer Society, nearly 2 million new cancer cases are expected in the United States in 2022, over a 5 percent increase since 2020. With more demand for treatment, infusion centers are running out of space to safely accommodate patient volume growth. More than 40 percent of survey respondents say they would need to physically expand their space with a capital investment in order to increase capacity and keep up with the current demand. 

The survey also identified other key challenges related to the ever-evolving operational burden these healthcare facilities and their staff are facing: 

• 50 percent of infusion centers find it difficult to access the data they need from their electronic health record. 
• 49 percent of infusion centers are tracking their operational performance manually in spreadsheets. 
• 47 percent of infusion centers have modified shifts or rotations or used temporary or travel nurses to address staffing shortages. 
• 37 percent of infusion centers believe that midday scheduling peaks are their most important pain point. 

“We’re at a critical inflection point where health system operators and cancer center administrators are grappling with how to expand the physical footprint of their facilities or find ways to optimize their space and processes to meet the growing need,” said Ashley Joseph, vice president of client services, infusion centers at LeanTaaS. “The reality is hospitals and health systems are in the most financially difficult year since the start of the pandemic, and the only sustainable and reasonably quick way to meet increased demand while still providing safe, high quality patient care is to unlock capacity in existing facilities, through a combination of technology and smart operational choices.”