TEAM 3 // FINAL PROJECT // Hannah Grigsby, Mary Chidester, Julian Narciso, Avery Lostica
1. Systems
1.1. With the introduction of holistic approach as a way of controlling QOL for individuals who have and are still battling breast cancer, it changes the idea of a way of neutralizing the effects of even the overall use of chemotherapy (Porter, Cochrane, & Zhu, 2017). When dealing with this type of magnitude, a mass amount of data is needed to create an organized chart of practice that will help with specific types of pain or discomforts created by the physical as well as psychological debilitation that accompanies breast cancer patients and survivors (Tian, Qin, Wu, Guo, Lu, Liu, Liu & Su, 2015).
1.1.1. Departments Included
1.1.1.1. Research Team
1.1.1.1.1. Continuing to research results as well as collect information and follow up with previous subjects to maintain QOL for these individuals and asses what type of products and practices have more positive feedback (Tsai, Lai, Lo, Chen, & Lin, 2017). In the same event, this team will also branch to become a preventative team, reseraching products and practices that contribute towards overall prevention of breast cancer.
1.1.1.2. Diagnosis Team
1.1.1.2.1. Team of practitioners consisting of individuals who utilize modern practices and individuals who are versed in TCM and Chinese Herbal Products (CHP) who can work together to diagnose as well as suggest specific treatments both in westernized practice as well as TCM.
1.1.1.3. Project Managers
1.1.1.3.1. Overseer of business structures--ensuring the work environment runs smoothly on a daily basis by establishing goals and trends that individuals working within can work together to achieve
1.1.1.4. Financial Managers
1.1.1.4.1. The financial aspect of the initiative (in the beginning) will be managed by individuals whose main focus is to control the day-to-day operational cost and maintenance
1.1.2. Departments Excluded (for now to best avoid the possible obstacles)
1.1.2.1. Marketing
1.1.2.1.1. There is still substantial amount of information that must be clarified which is difficult to pinpoint with the geographical differences that contribute towards diagnosis of breast cancer.
2. Possible Obstacles
2.1. Finance
2.1.1. Typically, availability of specific TCM supplements as well as physicians who deal with TCM practices are typically specialized and localized which can be troublesome for a majority of people who are financially strapped as well as being limited by time.
2.2. Policy
2.2.1. Policy creation will take time because adapting to certain practices and understanding specific needs of case-by-case patient outcome from treatments as well as continued treatments must be thoroughly examined both by the primary physicians and the chosen TCM practitioner.
2.3. Evidence-Based Practice
2.3.1. (A) Patient Values: Understanding the needs to work around and ultimately improve the Quality of Life (QOL) of breast cancer patients and survivors. There is no universal limit set to deal with all stages of breast cancer as well control with what is allowed with current patient oncologists and physicians. (B) Clinical Expertise: comprehensive studies as well as cross studies and examinations will allow physicians involved (both TCM as well as westernized) to accumulate data based upon their own findings as well as gathered data is typically time consuming. (C) Relevant Research: Studies for implementing TCM is not widely accepted so its not a practice that is foregoing therefore, the lack of trials creates hesitation among the general public which diminishes the pool for potential subjects who might benefit from this from of treatment.
2.4. Stakeholders
2.4.1. Policymakers, patients, providers, payors.
3. 7 Pillars
3.1. Policy
3.1.1. Firm down the language of the policy with clear expectations.
3.2. Evidence-Based Practice
3.2.1. Become familiar with holistic care research and studies that are already in place.
3.3. Outcomes
3.3.1. Have clear and tangible goals in place with realistic timeframes.
3.4. Leadership
3.4.1. All leadership will have weekly meetings to touch base with each other, as well as with their respective teams.
3.5. Finance
3.5.1. The business team will manage any financial obligations and opportunities to ensure the needs of the company and will be run by a team that has constant contact with the field team.
3.6. Technology & Communication
3.6.1. IT will integrate systems with other teams across administrative and clinical scopes. They will also ensure proper training to help care providers with knowledge and function of the technology used.
3.7. Innovative Process
3.7.1. Continuous improvement will be thought of in all scopes and the team will continue to be open to growth and new ideas.
4. Innovative Process
4.1. The first step of the innovation process would be to start to inform those in healthcare environment the idea and increase quality of life with Holistic medicine
4.2. Another step to the innovation process is estimate the cost and values this would have and the impact for future cancer patients
4.3. The next step of the innovation process would be to refine the idea with more extensive research and case studies to explain the why behind holistic medicine for women’s with breast cancer.
4.4. Once extensive research is complete and case studies are done, we would start utilizing this process within one breast cancer treating facility. As patients are treated, we expand to other facilities
4.5. The final step would to commercialize to all cancer treating facilities and possibly expand to more then just breast cancer patients as our research continues
5. References
6. One Page Executive Summary
7. Technology
7.1. For every patient to be seen, they will have their own medical file with us. Information included in their personal, online file will include their background information, medical history, and everything that they have been prescribed or taken.
7.1.1. Any health related issues will be uploaded and updated in the given patient's profile.
7.1.1.1. HIPAA- The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is put into place to protect patients health information to ensure a patient has privacy (HHS, 2013). Because of HIPAA we may have limitations to our product and have to work around this act.
7.1.2. Information can be sent to any medical professional as long as the patient has given written consent.
7.1.2.1. EHRs are defined as “a longitudinal electronic record of patient health information generated by one or more encounters in any care delivery setting. Included in this information are patient demographics, progress notes, problems, medications, vital signs, past medical history, immunizations, laboratory data, and radiology reports” (Menachemi & Collum, 2011).
7.1.3. All records and information inputted by the provider will always sign off to ensure proper documenting.
7.2. "As herbs usually contain considerable chemical compounds, databases of each herb were built firstly. After that, a series of combinational integrated approaches were used to screen out active components from the databases, as well as to predict the potential targets. Finally, networks of compound-target and target-pathway were constructed based on the active components and predicted targets" (Li et al., 2017).
8. Resources to Consider
8.1. Leadership
8.1.1. TCM practitioners, oncologists
8.2. Team Members
8.2.1. All those in leadership, Breast cancer survivors, breast cancer fighters, cancer centers, researchers, holistic doctors and proponents.
8.3. Budget
8.3.1. Created by TCM proponents and/or researchers.
8.3.1.1. This may depend upon what setting we chose to go through - research? Hospitals? Insurance companies? Private parties?
8.4. Funding
8.4.1. Insurance companies, out of pocket, fundraising, research companies/universities.
9. Problem Statement
9.1. How can we improve breast cancer remission rates and treatment side effects through the holistic approach use of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in conjunction with western treatment methods? Many people who have had breast cancer or who currently have it, seem to have difficulty managing the chemo and or radiation they have to go through. Although this process has saved lives it has also killed many as well.
9.2. With the approach to use Traditional Chinese Medicine (Holistic) will help improve the quality of life many of these individuals have while having cancer.
9.2.1. The most common complaint most women have is fatigue
10. Overview of Current Situation
10.1. The use of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) by breast cancer patients is growing, for a variety of reasons. Though not many know of its specific benefits yet, TCM is being used in conjunction with western medicine as part of many women’s breast cancer treatment journey. More specifically, it is being used as a complement — not treatment or alternative — to standard care today (Porter, Cochran, & Zhu, 2017).
10.1.1. In a qualitative research study with semi structured interviews, 100% of the participants used acupuncture, 62% used Chinese herbal medicine, 23% used Qigong, and 23% used Chinese dietary therapy. Results found that usage of TCM helped increased coping mechanisms, relieving stress and side-effects of standard treatment, the desire to be pro-active in the treatment journey, and to have a locus of control. The future for TCM and breast cancer is hopeful (Porter, Cochran, & Zhu, 2017).