Home Cancer Shots Save Time and Money

Cancer clinics are busy places. Nurses often run out of time. One way to help is to let patients give themselves medicine at home. The medicine in this study is called trastuzumab. It is a shot given under the skin. Researchers wanted to know if home shots save time and money compared to clinic shots.

They looked at how long things took. Patients who did it at home saved about 74 minutes per dose. That is a huge drop, around 87 percent. Nurses also saved time, about 30 minutes each time. That is roughly 87 percent less work for them. The cost to give the shot at the clinic was about 61 euros. At home, it was about 36 euros. That is a saving of 26 euros every time.

Patients had strong opinions. Twenty-five people filled out a survey. Twenty-three of them preferred doing it at home. That is 92 percent. When you count travel and missed work, society saved about 15 euros per dose. If most patients in the Netherlands switched to home shots, the country could save more than 21 thousand hours of chair time. It would also free up the work of 12 full-time nurses. The total savings could reach over 1.5 million euros in administration costs.

Home-based shots could reduce stress on cancer care teams. Patients spend less time waiting. Nurses have more room to help others. The bills go down too. This approach might be one way to handle staff shortages. Is it safe for everyone? Other medicines could be tested next to see if they work the same way.