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Oncology Issues Journal

Oncology Issues is the official journal of the Association of Cancer Care Centers (ACCC). As one of the only non-clinical, programmatic journals covering cancer, Oncology Issues provides “how-to” articles for the entire multidisciplinary oncology care team, on a wide range of topics.

Ambulatory Care Excellence (ACE): A Proven Framework for Streamlined Cancer Care Delivery

By Tara DelGrippo, Disha Sawhney, Colleen Eroh, Sarah Porzig, Jordyn Lynn Biro, and Anna Liza Rodriguez

Oncology care is shifting from inpatient to outpatient settings, with ambulatory care becoming increasingly complex and requiring efficient processes, clear communication, and seamless care coordination. In response, 2025 ACCC Innovator Award Winner Fox Chase Cancer Center developed the Ambulatory Care Excellence Model to standardize roles, embed care-coordination time, and streamline communication.

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Also In This Issue:

Scaling Early Detection Across Rural America: Lifepoint Health’s Healthy Person Program
2025 ACCC Innovator Award Winner Lifepoint Health recognized that patients in rural and underserved areas face barriers to early detection of cancer and high-risk conditions. In response, they developed the Healthy Person Program, which combines computational linguistics, standardized workflows, and nurse navigation to identify patients at risk, coordinate follow-up, and measure outcomes across the entire health system.
Implementing a Structured, Scalable Geriatric Oncology Program
Older adults with cancer face unique vulnerabilities—such as comorbidities, frailty, and polypharmacy—that affect treatment tolerance and outcomes, requiring an age-inclusive approach to care. Recognizing this, 2025 ACCC Innovator Award Winner Penn Medicine Princeton Health developed a structured, scalable geriatric oncology program and integrated the Practical Geriatric Assessment into its workflows.
Precision With Purpose: Transforming Oncology Care Through Predictive Insights
Research continues to demonstrate that early palliative care involvement improves the patient and caregiver experience, enhances quality of life, and reduces emergency department visits and hospitalizations. WellSpan Cancer Institute, a 2025 ACCC Innovator Award Winner, broke down barriers to palliative care referrals by engaging the health system’s End-of-Life Care Index within the electronic health record.
Staying Connected Between Visits: A Sustainable Model for Remote Monitoring
For many patients with cancer, the most difficult moments occur alone at home, when symptoms arise and they feel unsure whether to contact their care team. To address these issues early and prevent a quiet concern from turning into a crisis, 2025 ACCC Innovator Award Winner Highlands Oncology leveraged AI to implement an electronic patient-reported outcomes program across multiple sites.
Bringing Cancer Care Home: The Shaw at Home Model for Community-Based Oncology Palliative Care
After realizing that a growing number of patients with cancer experienced significant delays—and in some cases, denials—in home care and hospice services, Shaw Cancer Center built an oncology-specific home- and community-based palliative care program from the ground up, winning them a 2025 ACCC Innovator Award.
Embedding Precision Medicine Into Gynecologic Cancer Care: Lessons From a Nationwide Quality Improvement Effort
To evaluate and strengthen biomarker testing workflows in gynecologic oncology, ACCC launched a quality improvement initiative with 3 geographically diverse cancer centers, representing both academic and community settings. Over the course of 6 months, this initiative yielded an assessment of feasibility, identified common barriers, and generated actionable strategies for improvement of biomarker use.