The Impact of an Outpatient Urgent Care Clinic on Patients Treated for Head and Neck Cancer

BACKGROUND: Patients undergoing radiation therapy (RT) for head and neck cancer frequently require escalation of care, leading to emergency department (ED) visits and hospital admissions. An outpatient urgent care clinic (OncoSTAT) may reduce ED visits. OBJECTIVES: The study classified patients into a pre-OncoSTAT cohort (January 2018 to December 2020) and post-OncoSTAT cohort (January 2021 to December 2023). Records were queried for ED visits, admissions, treatment side effects, and disposition from the date of RT startup to eight weeks post-RT. METHODS: Pre-OncoSTAT, 156 (40%) patients presented to the ED for 258 encounters, resulting in 172 (67%) admissions. Post-OncoSTAT, 163 (46%) patients used the clinic across 482 encounters, resulting in 434 discharges home (90%) and 36 inpatient admissions (8%). A total of 117 (33%) patients presented to the ED for 186 encounters, with 82 (44%) total admissions (46 from the ED, 36 from OncoSTAT) (p < 0.001). FINDINGS: Half of the patients used the OncoSTAT clinic, and 90% of the encounters resulted in discharge home. Establishing an outpatient oncology urgent care clinic reduced ED visits and hospital admissions.