MDNews - Cleveland-Akron-Canton

COVER FEATURE create integrated comprehensive plans for patients. This is a model of care that is unique nationally, according to Dr. Gerson. "Cancer patients usually have to UH Seidman Cancer Center is the fi rst clinical setting in the nation with a PET/MRI. get input from a medical oncologist, a radiation oncologist, and a surgeon. In traditional settings, patients visit each one of these — usually on different days or weeks and at different locations on a hospital campus — and often they get a different opinion from each," explains Dr. Gerson. "In our model, a patient is seen and then the case is discussed at a team meeting of the whole array of physicians and support personnel — experts in surgical oncology, medical oncology, radiation oncology, pathology, nursing, psychology, social work ... This way, a single, consistent plan of care is formulated from the beginning and reviewed weekly, sometimes by as many as 30 people. And this results in more effi cient and effective patient care." To optimize the patient experience, Through the Goodman Discovery Center at UH Seidman Cancer Center, cancer patients have access to more than 300 clinical trials. cancer center is part of a national study for genomics and clinical outcome of brain tumor patients. "Every conceivable state-of-the-art cancer technology is here at UH Seidman Cancer Center," says Dr. Levitan. "And because of our multidisciplinary care model, it's all used judiciously and only in the right setting." Innovative Model of Care UH Seidman Cancer Center's mul- tidisciplinary team approach to care brings together the expertise and per- spectives of physicians and surgeons from core areas of subspecialization to 10 | Cleveland-Akron-Canton MD NEWS MDNEWS.COM SPECIAL ISSUE, FALL 2011 clinical 'corridors' were designed for 10 subspecialty cancer areas, including breast, cutaneous, sarcomas, gastroin- testinal, gynecologic, head and neck, lymphoma/leukemia, neurologic, thoracic and genitourinary which includes prostate, testicular, bladder and kidney cancer. (Pediatric cancer care is provided at UH Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, where plans for the new Angie Fowler Child & Young Adult Cancer Institute were recently announced.) Each corridor includes physicians' and surgeons' exam rooms, patient treatment areas and procedure rooms geared toward complex cancer cases that need to be managed in either an inpatient or highly intense outpatient environment. "On any specific day, one corridor may be for patients with head and neck cancer while the next one is for patients with lung cancer and the next one is for patients with colon cancer," Dr. Gerson explains. "So we coordinate based on the patients and the physician groups that are there at any specifi c time. But the concept is uniform and that is that the patients

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