An alternative for cancer patients in need of urgent medical care
Cancer patients undergoing treatment often need urgent medical care, because they become sick from the cancer and/or the cancer treatment. They might be experiencing pain or gastrointestinal issues. They might have a high fever. In these cases, many patients visit an emergency room, and there can be downsides to that. \n\nArthur Hong, MD, recently received American Cancer Society funding to explore whether outpatient cancer urgent care clinics could be a better alternative to emergency rooms in some cases. Dr. Hong notes: \u201cCancer urgent care clinics are designed to handle many problems that are commonly the result of cancer and its treatment such as nausea, vomiting, weakness, fevers, and pain. Cancer urgent care visits are usually much more convenient, have shorter waiting times, and are faster and much less expensive than the emergency room.\u201d\n\nArthur Hong, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and Population and Data Sciences at UT Southwestern.\n\n4:42 \u2013 On what it\u2019s like to find out in a phone call that your grant has been funded (Dr. Hong was recently awarded a Clinician Scientist Development Grant from the ACS)\n\n6:11 \u2013 How the pandemic has impacted his clinical practice and research program\n\n9:24 \u2013 Why cancer patients visit the emergency room and\u2026\n\n11:46 \u2013 \u2026some of the downsides to them visiting ER for treatment\n\n15:19 \u2013 What are cancer urgent care clinics? How common are they?\n\n20:36 \u2013 On the advantages of cancer urgent care clinics as an alternative to the emergency room\n\n26:22 \u2013 The best-case scenario for how his work unfolds over the next 5 years\n\n28:50 \u2013 A message he\u2019d like to share with cancer patients, survivors and caregivers