The autologous blood and marrow transplant long-term follow-up clinic: a model of care for following and treating survivors of autotransplant

The number of long-term survivors of autologous blood and marrow transplantation (ABMT) is increasing, but little is known about the models of care used to follow these patients. Such information would help in comparison of different methods of follow-up and allow other centers to create programs to follow their survivors. Here we describe a multidisciplinary long-term follow-up clinic for Survivors of ABMT and report patient satisfaction with the clinic and economic analysis 1.5 years after its inception. In its first 1.5 years of operation, 83 new patients were seen in the clinic. Patients were evaluated a median of 4.0 years after ABMT (range 4.9 months to 12 years) and were a median of 48.5 years (range 22.5-69.0 years) old. Patients received their ABMT for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (n = 26), Hodgkin's disease (n = 18), acute myeloid leukemia (n = 18), multiple myeloma (n = 15). breast cancer (n = 5), or desmoplastic round-cell tumor (n = 1). Patient satisfaction was assessed 1.5 years after the establishment of the long-term follow-up clinic by means of a self-report questionnaire. Seventy-five percent of patients returned the survey. Waiting times in the clinic were short, with 70% of patients seen within 30 minutes of arrival. Overall, patients were very satisfied with the new clinic model, with 85% patients reporting that the clinic met their expectations. An economic analysis indicated that the estimated annual cost of operating the clinic was approximately $53,000, which translates into $440 per patient visit, $962 per new patient or $172 per patient visit with the clinic operating at peak capacity. In conclusion, we present an inexpensive model of care for ABMT survivors that can be extended to adult survivors of malignancy not treated by ABMT.