From evidence to practice: developing an outpatient acuity-based staffing model.

Background: Reliable and valid outpatient oncology acuity-based staffing systems are lacking. The existing staffing model in a midwestern cancer center demonstrated inefficiencies related to unpredictable patient flow, treatment regimen complexity, and physician practice variation.

Objectives: A project was initiated to implement an evidence-based oncology outpatient staffing system maximizing patient satisfaction, employee engagement, and equity in workload distribution.