Preoperative treatment can cause significant morbidity and often result in hospitalizations. Patients receiving preoperative FOLFIRINOX often experience numerous side effects, including nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, fever, neuropathy, and loss of appetite. Frequently, patients require hospital admissions to help address uncontrolled symptoms related to their cancer and side effects related to the treatment,
Interventions targeting patients' symptoms and delivering care to patients at their homes have the potential to improve patient outcomes. Studies show that interventions targeting patients' symptoms can improve symptom management, enhance quality of life (QOL), and prevent hospitalizations.
Medically Home interventions have shown the potential to enhance patient outcomes. The Medically Home model of care is an alternative to a hospital admission for acute care and treatment of a clinical condition. Medically Home interventions entail providing medical care to acutely ill patients in their home. In addition, research in the general medicine literature has demonstrated that interventions involving remote patient monitoring with 'triggers' for visits to patients' homes for worrisome symptoms can enhance care outcomes.
Although this research demonstrates promising results, these studies have not been conducted among patients with cancer. Notably, the prior work involving home monitoring with visits as needed has lacked patient-reported outcomes, such as symptom monitoring. Thus, efforts are needed to develop and test interventions containing both symptom monitoring and the potential for home visits when necessary in a population of patients with cancer.
