“I think that regionalization of care has ... some benefits to patients, but it comes with many challenges as well. This study really did help show that increased numbers [of procedures performed] makes you more comfortable and willing to offer partial nephrectomy,” said Dr. Cahn, of Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia.
“Volume tends to show better outcomes. But the concern is: Are you overloading systems? Are you making patients travel farther, and how does that work in terms of follow-up care?” Dr. Cahn said. He cited the example of a patient who may have to travel several hours to get surgery but then returns home and develops a postoperative complication that must be treated in a different facility. That raises issues of transfer of medical records and coordination of care.
The solution, he said, is for some of the procedures and practices common at high-volume centers to be transferred to smaller centers. “For the routine partial nephrectomy ... we need to have well-trained physicians who can offer those all over the country. I think it’s too hard in terms of feasibility to push those patients just towards certain high volume centers.”
SOURCE: AUA Annual Meeting, Abstract PD07-04.