Transformation through Teamwork
Reorganization Transforms Bone Marrow Transplant Program at University of Colorado Hospital
School of Medicine Jun 23, 2017
Each year, nearly 50,000 bone marrow transplants are carried out across the globe. The treatment is often the last resort for patients battling blood diseases such as leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and multiple myeloma.
Though transplants have boosted survival rates for some blood cancers to almost 85%, a positive outcome is by no means certain. Bone marrow transplants carry a significant risk of serious complications like graft versus host disease, infections and side effects from chemotherapy.
Yet this is what makes the bone marrow transplant (BMT) program at University of Colorado Hospital all the more remarkable. As Jeffrey Glasheen, MD, professor, medicine-internal medicine and chief quality officer at UCHealth, explains, their outcomes are better than 90+% of programs in the United States when actual outcomes are compared to expected outcomes.
