What Just Happened? 2018!

As we turn the calendar page to a new year, we inevitably pause to take a quick look back.

At ACCC, 2018 has been a year of forward-looking advances. Over the past 12 months, ACCC launched its newly designed website and brought the Association’s immuno-oncology initiative, now named the ACCC Immuno-Oncology Institute, to the next level. That's not all.

In March, ACCC released its Financial Advocacy Services Guidelines, which has become one of the most downloaded resources of 2018. That same month, during the ACCC 44th Annual Meeting & Cancer Center Business Summit, ACCC President 2018-2019 Tom A. Gallo, MS, MDA, announced his president’s theme: Reflect, Renew, Reignite: Creating a Resilient Oncology Team in Your Community, which was the focus of discussion at ACCC’s Institute for the Future of Oncology in June.

Then in July, ACCC convened an action-oriented leadership summit bringing together stakeholders from across healthcare sectors to develop consensus on feasible steps for closer integration of pathology and oncology in this era of precision medicine. As anticipated, in July we saw the release of the proposed 2019 Medicare payment rules. Once again ACCC delivered concise, expert analysis of key CMS proposals [login required] impacting oncology providers and their patients in all settings of care.

August and September brought even more action on the advocacy front as ACCC kept members abreast of Trump Administration regulatory changes with potential to impact cancer patients and providers, joined with other stakeholder organizations in coalition letters, and commented on the proposed OPPS and Physician Fee Schedule rules for 2019. Also during these two months, ACCC hosted interdisciplinary summit meetings for its Financial Advocacy Network and Immuno-Oncology Institute Working Groups.  

During the ACCC 35^th National Oncology Conference in October, the 2018 ACCC Innovator Award recipients shared details and “how to’s” for their winning initiatives. Pre-conferences included an interactive workshop hosted by the ACCC Oncology Care Model Collaborative bringing together participating practices for peer-to-peer perspectives on the OCM experience.

Throughout the year, ACCC introduced a range of new and enhanced education opportunities and resources. To name just a few: an interactive, curated metastatic breast cancer resource library; expert-selected resources for caring for geriatric oncology patients; updates and practical resources on multidisciplinary multiple myeloma care; a gap assessment tool for health literacy improvement; process improvement opportunities in breast cancer care and delivery of immunotherapy, and more.

Topping the list of most popular ACCC resources in 2018:

Webinars. With continuing tumult around health policy and reform, it’s no surprise that among the most-watched ACCC webinars were those providing in-depth analysis of key CMS proposals unveiled in the CY 2019 proposed Medicare payment rules and discussion of the agency’s finalized changes for 2019.

Leading the list of most viewed ACCC education webinars: the Financial Advocacy Guidelines Town Hall and CAR T-Cell Therapy: What We Know (and Don’t Know) One Year Later.  

ACCCBuzz Blog. Posts garnering the most hits: Oncology Care Model (OCM) Update: Stakeholders’ Perspectives. In second place: 2018 ACCC Innovator Award Winner Legacy Cancer Institute’s blog on “Managing Medications in Cancer Programs: A New Best Practice Model.”

Oncology Issues. Top article downloads included “Developing an Acuity Tool to Optimize Nurse Navigator Caseloads” (March/April 2018) by ACCC 2017 Innovator Award winner University of South Alabama, Mitchell Cancer Institute and an “Inpatient and Outpatient Nursing Collaborative Improves the Patient Experience” (July/August 2018).

Financial Advocacy Network. The economic burden of cancer remains a pressing concern in oncology. In 2018, the ACCC Financial Advocacy Services Guidelines was a top publication download. By year-end, enrollment in ACCC’s Financial Advocacy Network Boot Camp had reached nearly 1,800.

Immunotherapy for cancer continues to evolve. Leading in-demand publication downloads from the ACCC Immuno-Oncology Institute were: “Immuno-Oncology: Transforming the Delivery of Cancer Care in the Community” and “Care Coordination and Immune-Related Adverse Events: Building an Immuno-Oncology Toxicity Team.”

ACCCExchange. In 2018, ACCC members posted nearly 2,000 messages on our members-only virtual discussion forum. Among the most popular discussion threads: Survivorship Care Plans; Head and Neck Cancer Screening; and Clinic Wait Times for Drugs Mixed in Pharmacy.

This is only a snapshot of 2018 ACCC highlights. For 2019, resolve not to miss out on ACCC offerings and opportunities—from webinars to new education programs and resources for the cancer care team, “need to know” policy updates and advocacy issues, the latest Oncology Issues' articles, and applying for a 2019 ACCC Innovator Award. Attend a meeting and network with peers. Join us for Capitol Hill Day. Visit accc-cancer.org. Stay in touch.