Grant: Knowledge Translation Supplement

To develop Chemo SmartBook, a decision support tool for chemothearpy appointment scheduling. A prototype of this tool was developed as part of a "CIHR New Emerging Team Grant" and is implemented and in use at the Vancouver Centre of the BC Cancer Agency (BCCA). A comprehensive post-implementation evaluation showed a 58% reduction in late patient appointment notification and a waitlist reduction of 84%. Patient surveys confirmed heightened satisfaction with the appointment booking process, while staff feedback reported improved nursing workload distribution and reduced stress levels. The success of this prototype has proven its effectiveness and we seek funding to transform this prototype into a professional tool that can be implemented at the other cancer centres within BCCA. This will be a web-based scheduling tool with the following modules: 1. Nursing Schedule Processor: Enables manager to edit nursing capacity by changing available shifts and start times or breaks through a user-friendly interface. 2. Patient Record Processor: Gives user the ability to review patient information including time preferences, other appointments, treatment and resource requirements. Potential problems or inconsistencies are flagged by the system for user correction. This information will be downloaded automatically from existing appointment information systems prior to scheduling. 3. Schedule Optimizer: Assigns patients to appointment times to simultaneously satisfy patient time preferences, balance workload and complexity across nurses, and limit the number of treatments that the pharmacy can prepare in any 30- minute period using an integer programming model. 4. Schedule Modifier: Enables daily fine-tuning to account for late appointment changes, urgent new appointments, cancellations or other unanticipated factors. 5. Report Generator: Provides work schedules and selected managerial reports.