Bringing Advanced Cancer Care Closer to Patients Improves Access, Equity: Kathy Oubre, MS

In part 2 of an interview, Kathy Oubre, MS, CEO of Pontchartrain Cancer Center, explains how expanding cancer service lines in the community setting can improve patient access and advance equity. These topics were explored further during the panel discussion, "Multiplying Cancer Service Lines in the Community Setting," at the Patient-Centered Oncology Care conference in Nashville, Tennessee, on September 26.

Watch part 1 to learn more about opportunities for expanding community cancer service lines and the common challenges they involve.

This transcript has been lightly edited; captions were auto-generated.

Transcript

How does expanding community-based cancer services improve patient access and promote equity?

Expanding community-based cancer services is one of the most effective ways to promote patient access and promote health equity. For many patients, especially the patients that we serve in southeast Louisiana, a lot of those patients come from rural or underserved areas. Traveling to large academic centers can mean lost wages, transportation issues, long commutes, and gaps in support. By bringing these advanced services, like precision medicine and bispecifics, closer to where patients live, we reduce those barriers and make high-quality care more attainable.

Community practices also tend to have deeper connections to the populations they serve. These are the people that we see in the grocery store or see at the local Home Depot, and having these deeper connections also helps us identify and address social determinants of health because we really do know these patients on a personal level. This can mean better care navigation, more culturally sensitive outreach, and, ultimately, stronger patient trust.

These community-based expansion programs ensure that advances in cancer treatment aren't just available to those in the major cities or to those who have the means to travel. It means that every patient who needs them, regardless of their zip code or income, can have access.