IU Simon Cancer Center

Delivering hope┬áA partnership between the Indiana University School of Medicine and Clarian Health has resulted in a new care facility, an increased focus on outpatient care, and greater survival rates for patients, as Andrew Pelis finds out. Cancer remains one of societyÔÇÖs greatest fears, but today, thanks to the efforts of Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, an IU School of Medicine and Clarian Health partnership, a greater number of patients are surviving the disease.┬áAdvancements in treatment and technologies have had significant impact on how patients with cancer receive care today. As Dr. Jeff Heffelfinger, administrative director, explains, ÔÇ£With cancer, weÔÇÖre talking about a group of over 100 types of diseases. Each type of cancer has unique characteristics in its formation and growth. Some forms can be eradicated completely with fairly simple treatment interventions; others involve very complex treatments with multiple treatment modalities from an interdisciplinary team of oncology specialists. Overall, our goal is to turn complex types of cancer into a disease of longevity, rather like diabetes is regarded today.ÔÇ£From a clinical perspective, our success has led to additional challenges,ÔÇØ he continues. ÔÇ£Whereas 30 years ago patients may have had a five-year survival rate, weÔÇÖre now seeing survival rates of 10 to 15-plus years. And this is a wonderful thing. Within an aging culture susceptible to different types of cancer, weÔÇÖre now seeing patients return for treatment of a completely different disease. Treatment may be more complex because the new cancer site is located near the old site or because of how the first cancer was treated.ÔÇØ Consequently, the IU Simon Cancer Center has seen a sharp increase in demand for its services, to the extent that the facility has had to rethink strategy for its new patient care facility, to accommodate the growing number of outpatient needs.The IU Simon Cancer Center, situated in downtown Indianapolis, has certainly come a long way since receiving its NCI (National Cancer Institute) designation to the IU School of Medicine in 1992. It changed its name from IU Cancer Center in 2006 to reflect the philanthropic support of the Melvin and Bren Simon family.As Dr. Heffelfinger explains, the partnership with Clarian had a huge bearing on the direction of operations. ÔÇ£It has been a collaborative partnership since 1997, but not necessarily as engaged as it is today.ÔÇ£Clarian Health expanded the organization and collaboration as a whole,ÔÇØ he continues. ÔÇ£We went from having three independent hospitals in downtown Indianapolis to a health system approach and partnership between facilities such as Indiana University Hospital, the Methodist Hospital and the Riley Hospital for Children. Those three facilities started reporting through a common administration.ÔÇØ The effects of the transition to a health system have been far-reaching. Changing the mindset of employees from a single facility allegiance to a health system alliance has proved an ongoing challenge, but the organizationÔÇÖs top-down strategy toward pre-eminence has aimed to develop relationships across the different sites, establish a uniform vision for all Clarian Health facilities and enhance collaboration across the board.Supply chain management and equipment acquisition remains crucial to the success of the IU Simon Cancer Center. ÔÇ£There is a very distinct difference between supplies and equipment,ÔÇØ states Renee Smith, senior project manager. ÔÇ£We have some daily supply needs, and these are typically delivered on a just-in-time basis. Equipment is a very different scenario, and we try to purchase the best available technology in order to remain world class at what we do. Some equipment is very specialized, and there may be only one or two organizations in the world that can deliver it, so weÔÇÖve chosen to partner with some of the larger equipment vendors.ÔÇØ The shelf life of machinery is equally critical, and the organization monitors equipment through its clinical engineering department. So to the opening of the new patient care facility in August 2008; overall, the project cost around $150 million. The concept was first floated in 2003 as patient levels continued to rise, and design took place the following year. However, it quickly became apparent that plans would have to be adjusted, as Smith describes. ÔÇ£As we started to look at demographics and the area we would be drawing patients from, we realized that the building needed to be larger.ÔÇØTo date, some 230,000 square feet of the facility is now active, with shell space on each level for further expansion and the overall site totalling 405,000 square feet. ÔÇ£We didnÔÇÖt have to disrupt the existing hospital or patient care in any way, because this was an addition to the hospital,ÔÇØ adds Smith. ÔÇ£We did tie in on various floors and areas as a last item of construction and then broke through those walls to create the tie-through.ÔÇØFeedback from patients and staff has been overwhelmingly positive, and patient thoughts were incorporated into the design. ÔÇ£We used both current and prior patients in planning the design. There were many elements that we incorporated, and folks were thrilled that their thoughts on color, texture and lighting contributed to what we believe is a very warm and welcoming facility,ÔÇØ Dr. Heffelfinger enthuses. Not only did the size of the project require reassessment, but the nature of the new site as well, as Smith explains. ÔÇ£In general, more patients are now seen as outpatients. When we designed the building we had different numbers anticipated for inpatients and outpatients.ÔÇØÔÇ£A transition occurred during the planning phase of the facility to acknowledge that a larger portion of our patients are now treated on an outpatient basis,ÔÇØ adds Dr. Heffelfinger. ÔÇ£As we now move forward with the remaining construction of the facility, our thoughts are turning to how we keep up with volume on an outpatient basis and what technologies we will need to employ. It will affect the types of employees we require as well as the equipment we will need to purchase.ÔÇØOver 40,000 patient visits occur at the IU Simon Cancer Center each year. In 2008, over 3,800 newly diagnosed cases of cancer were recorded. Patients come to the Center from as far afield as Russia and Iceland, while cycling legend Lance Armstrong remains perhaps the highest-profile patient to have been treated on site. Of the future, Dr. Heffelfinger remains confident. ÔÇ£Our challenge is to do a post-activation assessment of what went well during the transition and what did not work out so well. We still have around 170,000 square feet of space to build out and will apply the lessons learned as we make that space functional. The collaboration between our respective entities and the realization that the IU School of Medicine and Clarian Health have a united future together will continue to contribute greatly to our success.ÔÇØ ÔÇô Editorial research by Dan Finn┬á