Cancer Care and Cancer Survivorship Care in the United States: Will We Be Able to Care for These Patients in the Future?
Cancer Care and Cancer Survivorship Care in the United States: Will We Be Able to Care for These Patients in the Future?
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DOI：
10.1200/jop.0932001
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发表时间：
2009-05-01
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Ganz, Patricia A.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Shulman, Lawrence N.;Jacobs, Linda A.;Ganz, Patricia A.
研究预测，未来几年，肿瘤学家和初级保健医生的劳动力短缺。这些估计是基于当前医生的数量，离开该行业的医生的数量以及加入每个专业的新医生的速度，这是针对需要护理的患者人数的基准。对于积极的癌症治疗，尤其是对于癌症幸存者的护理，当前的计算可能低估了未来5至10年中发生的短缺。更复杂的癌症疗法会导致更好的结局，以提高治愈率和长期存活率，甚至对于最终屈服于其疾病的患者，导致医疗保健资源利用率大幅增加。由于这些因素，癌症患者和癌症幸存者对医疗保健资源的利用的攀升速度要比仅由患者人数所预测的要大。利用更多资源的患者数量增加的结合质疑我们的医疗保健系统将来满足癌症患者和癌症幸存者的需求的能力。至关重要的是，要开发并评估创新的护理模型（利用非医师提供者），以确保为不断增长的人群提供优质的护理和服务。
Studies have predicted a shortfall in the workforces of oncologists and primary care physicians in the coming years. These estimates are based on the number of current physicians, those leaving the profession, and the rate of new physicians joining each profession, as benchmarked against the number of patients needing care. For active cancer treatment, and particularly for the care of cancer survivors, it is likely that current calculations underestimate the shortfalls which will occur in the next 5 to 10 years. Ever more complex cancer therapies are leading to better outcomes with improved cure rates and prolonged survivals even for patients who ultimately succumb to their disease, resulting in a substantial increase in utilization of health care resources. Due to these factors, utilization of health care resources by cancer patients and cancer survivors is climbing at a rate greater than would be predicted by patient numbers alone. The combination of an increased number of patients utilizing more resources calls into question the ability of our healthcare system to meet the needs of cancer patients and cancer survivors in the future. It is crucial that innovative models of care (utilizing nonphysician providers) be developed and evaluated to assure quality care and services for this growing population.