Cancer Center Plans Expansion
Clinical Cancer Center Articles
What is the Hub Concept?If cancer is a journey, one thing that can make it difficult is the many stops along the way. Scans. Blood work. Surgery. Chemotherapy. Radiation therapy. Prescriptions and appointments. Doctors, specialists and sub-specialists, nurses and therapists. Cancer patients everywhere experience many of these treatment steps and the sheer complexity of it all can be overwhelming.
The vision for the Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin Clinical Cancer Center is that while cancer is a complicated disease, getting treatment for it shouldn’t be. And that’s where the hub concept comes in.
Unique in the region and possibly in the nation, the hub concept developed by Froedtert & The Medical College is a “person-centered” approach that that brings all facets of care to the patient rather than requiring the patient to navigate the treatment system. In the hub model, the patient has a single point of contact throughout his or her care. An experienced oncology nurse who specializes in a particular form of cancer coordinates the treatment process for each patient. The nurse coordinator works hand-in-hand with a new patient coordinator who schedules appointments, gathers records and makes phone calls, further streamlining the patient’s experience. Together, the nurse and the coordinator form a “hub” that knits together all aspects of care for the patient.
Hub teams have been in place for some time in breast, lung and prostate cancer as well as for hematologic malignancy and blood and marrow transplant patients. We are currently forming teams in our colorectal, endocrine, hepatobiliary-pancreatic, and head-and-neck cancer programs. When the Clinical Cancer Center opens and the hub model is fully in place, all 13 disease-specific cancer programs offered here will be structured around the hub concept.
While simplifying the patient journey is an important aspect of the hub, the concept also helps ensure patients get the best possible cancer care. A key part of the nurse coordinator’s role is to facilitate communication among all the physicians, nurses and others involved in a patient’s care. The goal is to continually improve quality by defining the standard of care for every situation based on scientific evidence, consistently measuring results and improving outcomes for our patients.
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