ACCC: Association of Cancer Care Centers

There are many applications that are available today that could be brought into the oncology landscape to create a much more patient-centered focus of experiences for those undergoing care, said Susan Dentzer, senior policy fellow at the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy.

Ben Jones, vice president, Government Relations & Public Policy, McKesson Specialty Health, discusses the importance of capturing real-world evidence in electronic health records (EHRs) and challenges oncologists face when trying to obtain these data from EHRs.

Erich Mounce, chief operating officer, OneOncology, discusses how payment models like the Oncology Care Model are changing the way oncologists practice, as well as what practices should prioritize when looking to participate in a payment model.

This is probably the biggest concern that every community and cancer practice should be looking at, explained Ben Jones, vice president, Government Relations & Public Policy, McKesson Specialty Health.

Erich Mounce, chief operating officer, OneOncology, discusses the importance of palliative care and how it impacts quality of life.

Ben Jones, vice president, Government Relations & Public Policy, McKesson Specialty Health, offers his thoughts on whether site-neutral payments for outpatient clinic visits under the Outpatient Prospective Payment System will have positive implications for community practices.

Alexandra Quinn, chief executive officer, Health Leads, discusses the growing role of community health workers in cancer care and why it's important to make the work they do more sustainable.

Oncology needs to learn to use technology not just for keeping medical records, but also for caring for patients, explained Erich Mounce, chief operating officer, OneOncology.

There's still a big disparity in reimbursement between hospitals and community-based practices, but is looking into ways to address this, explained Ben Jones, vice president, Government Relations & Public Policy, McKesson Specialty Health.

At the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC)'s 45th Annual Meeting & Cancer Center Business Summit, Ali McBride, PharmD, MS, BCPS, BCOP, clinical coordinator of hematology/oncology in the Department of Pharmacy at The University of Arizona Cancer Center and president of ACCC, discussed the role of biosimilars in oncology and how familiar oncologists and their teams are with them.

While no one country has perfected use of digital health, there are some takeaways from what other countries are doing successfully, according to John D. Halamka, MD, MS, chief information officer, Beth Israel Deaconess Health System.

Erich Mounce, chief operating officer, OneOncology, drew on his experience from West Cancer Center to discuss how community oncology can improve access to care and other inequalities in cancer care.

The proposals that will have the biggest impact on community oncology and cancer care delivery in general are those that are still pending, explained Ben Jones, vice president, Government Relations & Public Policy, McKesson Specialty Health.

CancerIQ is reducing barriers that make it difficult to utilize genetic testing to predict or pre-empt a patient’s cancer diagnosis, explained Feyi Olopade Ayodele, MBA, chief executive officer at CancerIQ.

More and more, care is moving into the home with new tools and technologies that can monitor patients, but this raises the question of how to handle this new data, said John D. Halamka, MD, MS, of Beth Israel Deaconess Health System.

A diverse panel of representatives from different practice models provided insights into what has worked for them and what has not in trying to improve cancer care. The discussion took place in Washington, DC, at the Association of Community Cancer Centers

Healthcare futurist Joe Flower discusses the need to look at the bigger picture when trying to change the way we deliver cancer care.

Healthcare futurist Joe Flower opened up the Association of Community Cancer Centers 45th Annual Meeting and Cancer Center Business Summit, held March 20-22 in Washington, DC, with a vision of a healthcare system that provides better quality care at a lower cost that is more easily accessible for all stakeholders.

While there is currently a presence of technology in healthcare, the future holds much more promise, said Allen Lichter, MD, FASCO, senior partner of TRG Healthcare.

People are getting better at handling data in their electronic health records (EHRs), but there is a lot and there should be a way to categorize how the data should be used, said Pamela Tobias, MS, RHIA, CHDA, administrator of oncology services at Lehigh Valley Health Network.

Healthcare could learn some lessons on preventing burnout from air traffic control, which is a high-stress workspace that has a very low burnout rate, said James Grayson, administrative chief of staff at West Cancer Center.

While there isn’t a lot of hard science out yet, there have been benefits seen for both patients and practices when integrated cancer care teams are used, Thomas Asfeldt, MBA, RN, director of Outpatient Cancer Services at Sanford Cancer Center.

While physicians are becoming more aware of the financial hardships facing patients, they are mostly still focused on insurance, said oncology financial navigator Clara Lambert, BBA, OPN-CG, chair of the ACCC Financial Advocacy Network Advisory Committee.

When creating a care coordination model, it is important to understand what the model is trying to achieve and what everyone’s roles are in the model, explained Barbara Tofani, RN, MSN, NEA-BC, administrative director of the Hunterdon Regional Cancer Center.

Burnout can impact how well a clinician connects with patients and makes medical decision, and programs that successfully address burnout start with leadership, said Kathleen Blake, MD, MPH, vice president for Performance Improvement at the American Medical Association.

Financial hardship doesn’t mean the same thing for anybody, and accurately predicting who will experience financial toxicity is challenging, said Yousuf Zafar, MD, MHS, of the Duke Cancer Institute and a member of the Association of Community Cancer Centers Financial Advocacy Network Advisory Committee.

Technology has been fantastic for connecting multidisciplinary teams and providing truly integrated care, explained Thomas Asfeldt, MBA, RN, director of Outpatient Cancer Services at Sanford Cancer Center.

It’s really important to take advantage of the data in an electronic health record (EHR) system, but sometimes people don’t know what information is being captured behind the scenes, said Pamela Tobias, MS, RHIA, CHDA, administrator of oncology services at Lehigh Valley Health Network.

James Hamrick, MD, MPH, Kaiser Permanente and Flatiron Health, discusses the importance of real-world data and how it augments traditional clinical trial data.

While burnout is being acknowledge much better today, it has been getting worse and there should also be focus on what burnout will look like 20 or 30 years from now, said James Grayson, administrative chief of staff at West Cancer Center.