Short distances and holistic cancer care for up to 80 patients a day thanks to interprofessional management and pooled expertise.
Talking at the registration desk: a cancer patient with Holger Brügmann, the nursing director of the OIA. Copyright: Karin Kaiser/MHH
Hannover Medical School (MHH) has opened a new Oncological Interdisciplinary Outpatient Clinic (OIA), significantly improving the care of patients with cancer. The OIA combines medical therapy, Nursing, care advice, psycho-oncology and social services under one roof, thus enabling efficient, patient-oriented and seamlessly networked care.
There are currently 24 treatment chairs available, with plans to increase this to 27 in the future. Bed spaces and an intervention room for minor procedures and minimally invasive treatments will be added. In future, around 80 patients will be treated in the outpatient clinic every day.
New structures for efficient care
"The new OIA has created the conditions for establishing efficient processes. There are fewer interfaces and the treatment of patients is in the hands of an interdisciplinary and interprofessional team," explains Dr. Philipp Ivanyi, associate professor (PD), medical director of the outpatient clinic and senior physician in the Clinical Department of Haematology, Haemostaseology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation at the MHH. "Diagnostics, therapy and nursing care are organizationally interlinked, so that additional coordination effort can be avoided and treatment processes can be accelerated."
Interdisciplinary team under one roof
Patients with various types of cancer have been receiving interdisciplinary care at the OIA for a week now. The MHH Clinical Departments of Haematology, Haemostaseology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation as well as Pneumology and Infectious Diseases are currently involved. The Clinical Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, Infectiology and Endocrinology is currently involved. In the long term, further Clinical Departments of the MHH are to be integrated into the OIA in order to further strengthen the range of treatments on offer.
Continuity and proximity for patients
"In the outpatient clinic, appointments are precisely planned and organized in a structured manner," emphasizes Holger Brügmann, Nursing Director of the outpatient clinic and nurse in the Clinical Department of Haematology, Haemostaseology, Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation. "Short waiting times are particularly important when you consider that some seriously ill patients are treated here. Each treatment room has a fixed workstation so that trained specialist staff are always on site. The rooms are permanently assigned to staff so that patients are looked after by the same caregiver throughout their treatment."
Holistic care as a guiding principle
At the OIA, patients receive holistic care. In addition to medical treatment, comprehensive oncological nursing advice is firmly integrated into the processes. A separate consultation room within the outpatient clinic enables confidential discussions and individual support. Social services and psycho-oncology are established at the MHH and can be contacted if required. This means that patients not only receive optimal medical treatment, but also psychosocial support and nursing advice that are optimally coordinated.
Interprofessional management
The OIA is jointly managed by Holger Brügmann as nursing director and PD Dr. Philipp Ivanyi as medical director. This interprofessional management model promotes close and equal cooperation between Nursing and Medicine. This improves the quality of patient care. This approach is also applied consistently in the day-to-day running of the outpatient clinic: nursing staff and medical assistants work together here on an interprofessional basis and on an equal footing.
Text: Jana Illmer-Krüger