Ensuring Quality Cancer Care through the Oncology Workforce: Sustaining Research and Care in the 21st Century: A Workshop

October 20 - 21, 2008

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About

The purpose of this workshop was to discuss the possibilities for improving and ensuring the quality of cancer care through the oncology workforce. There is strong evidence that the U.S. oncology workforce is going to experience labor shortages resulting from an aging population and an inadequate number of new professionals being trained. The incidence of cancer rises with age, and cancer especially prevalent in individuals over the age of 65. The Census Bureau projects that the number of Americans 65 years and older will double between 2000 and 2030. This means that the number of individuals diagnosed with cancer will also significantly increase during this time period. At the same time, the current oncology workforce is aging and heading into retirement. A recent survey conducted by the American Society of Clinical Oncology found that the demand for oncologists is likely to increase dramatically between now and 2020, with a 48% increase in cancer incidence and an 81% increase in people living with or surviving cancer. The supply of oncologists is projected to increase only 14% during the same timeframe. This means that there is an anticipated shortfall of 9.4-15 million patient visits to oncologists, or a shortage of 2,500 - 4,080 oncologists.
The Nursing Management Aging Workforce Survey found that 55% of surveyed nurses reported their intention to retire between 2011 and 2020. Furthermore, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing reported that 40,285 qualified applicants for baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs were turned away in 2007 alone. Similarly, the Association of Academic Health Centers’ survey of chief executives of academic health centers reported shortages in nursing faculty, allied health professional faculty, and medical oncology faculty. The CEO's reported that limits on student enrollment were the most common reactions to these shortages. The increasing number of cancer survivors requiring ongoing monitoring and treatment from oncology professionals and the new diagnostics and therapies developing for cancer will likely also increase the demand for oncology services, exacerbating the pending oncology workforce shortage.
There are factors in oncology that make its workforce issues different from those of other sectors of the healthcare system, including the wide range of treatment options employed, the number of medical specialists involved in treating each cancer patient, the ongoing medical monitoring required after acute treatment is complete, the psycho-social effects, the important role of family caregivers, and the frequency of clinical trials and experimental treatments. As potential reforms are proposed for the health care delivery system, it is important to ensure that they address issues unique to oncology.

Contact

Katherine Hawthorne

(202) 334-1453
khawthorne@nas.edu

Location

Keck Center

500 5th St NW

Washington DC 20001, USA

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It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

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Ensuring Quality Cancer Care through the Oncology Workforce: Sustaining Research and Care in the 21st Century: A Workshop

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Ensuring Quality Cancer Care through the Oncology Workforce: Sustaining Research and Care in the 21st Century: A Workshop