Association of Community Cancer Centers' Statement on the IOM Report on Delivering High-Quality Cancer Care

ROCKVILLE, Md. –  On September 10, 2013, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a new report, "Delivering High-Quality Cancer Care: Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis." The report identifies significant deficiencies in the current state of cancer care delivery, and makes 10 recommendations for improving oncology care in the United States. The Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) commends the IOM on its work and plans to use the report as a call to action for the oncology advocacy and provider communities to ensure patients are receiving the highest quality care possible.

ACCC members have long been at the forefront of providing quality cancer care, and many of the issues highlighted in the report are already being addressed at ACCC member institutions. For example, each year, ACCC confers a series of Innovator Awards that recognize and honor pioneering, replicable strategies for the effective delivery of cancer care. Many of this year’s Innovator Award winners are being honored for programs that directly address issues highlighted in the IOM Report.

One of this year’s Innovator Awards is being presented to the Gibbs Cancer Center & Research Institute in Spartanburg, S.C., for the integration of palliative care into a medical oncology practice. Another award recipient, Avera McKennan Hospital and University Health Center, Avera Cancer Institute, in Sioux Falls, S.D., is being recognized for its program implementing a process to unify chemotherapy standards across multiple sites of care, including rural locations. These institutions are just two examples of ACCC members already advancing care delivery in areas to which the IOM report has called attention.

ACCC has also begun work on another key issue raised in the IOM Report—the need for a health IT system that can share data in real time to improve patient care. ACCC recognized this need, and brought providers together at its recent inaugural forum of the Institute for the Future of Oncology to explore this issue. The Institute will be releasing a white paper, “Cancer Care in the Age of Electronic Health Information Exchange,” that will reflect this discussion.

ACCC appreciates the IOM report on the crisis in cancer care today. ACCC will continue to work with the IOM, as well as with other advocacy organizations and government agencies to ensure that cancer patients can access the highest quality cancer care in their communities.