BACKGROUND: There is limited literature on strategies to overcome the barriers to sperm banking among adolescent and young adult (AYA) males with cancer.
By standardizing our process for offering sperm banking to AYA males before cancer treatment, we aimed to improve rates of sperm banking at our institution.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Continuous process improvement is a technique that has recently been applied to improve health care delivery. We used continuous process improvement methodologies to create a standard process for fertility preservation for AYA males with cancer at our institution. We compared rates of sperm banking before and after standardization.
RESULTS: In the 12-month period after implementation of a standardized process, 90% of patients were offered sperm banking. We demonstrated an 8-fold increase in the proportion of AYA males' sperm banking, and a 5-fold increase in the rate of sperm banking at our institution.
DISCUSSION: Implementation of a standardized process for sperm banking for AYA males with cancer was associated with increased rates of sperm banking at our institution. This study supports the role of standardized health care in decreasing barriers to sperm banking.
Written by:
Shnorhavorian M, Kroon L, Jeffries H, Johnson R. Are you the author?
Department of Urology, Division of Pediatric Urology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle Children's Hospital, Seattle, WA, USA.
Reference: J Pediatr Hematol Oncol. 2012 Nov;34(8):e315-9.
doi: 10.1097/MPH.0b013e3182678e3a
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 22983421
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