Kathy W. Oubre Outlines the Full Breadth of Financial Assistance Offered at Pontchartrain Cancer Center

As costs for cancer care continue to rise, Pontchartrain Cancer Center does benefit and cost analyses for all patients before they start therapy and also takes into account any social needs they might have, said Kathy W. Oubre, MS, chief operating officer at Pontchartrain Cancer Center.

Transcript

How are you providing financial counseling assistance to the patients at Pontchartrain Cancer Center?

So, every patient that we see prior to the initiation of therapy, we do a benefit analysis as well as a cost analysis for them of their co-pays, their deductible, and everything. And anything that is $50 or more triggers our financial assistance people to then go in a look for assistance for those people to be able to afford their therapy.

But going back to my more rural market, we’ve now changed that to look for financial assistance for everyone. Because $50 for 1 person might look very different an $50 for another person.

So, in addition to financial help, we’ve really started addressing the patient as a whole in addressing all of their social needs as well. So, we look for transportation, help with their electricity, rent—so, our program that was once just financial offerings we’ve increased it 10-fold over the last 18 months as costs continue to rise and rise for our patients.