Association of Community Cancer Centers Announces 2022 Innovator Award Winner as Baptist Health’s Miami Cancer Institute

Rockville, MD—August 23, 2022 - The Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) announced today that Baptist Health’s Miami Cancer Institute a recipient of a 2022 ACCC Innovator Award. The award recognizes Miami Cancer Institute’s use of technology to improve patient oral oncolytic consent compliance.

It’s common for cancer programs and practices to struggle with timely treatment education, consent gathering, and adherence tracking, especially when an oral oncolytic is prescribed. These challenges are due in part to older solutions that are no longer benefiting all patients equally. Problems like this have persisted in oncology despite healthcare’s fast-paced innovations and there is no one-size-fits-all fix.

To meet the needs of the cancer care team and their patients, Miami Cancer Institute leadership knew that a same-day solution was needed, and technology was the answer. The team turned to technology-based solutions that were already in use by Baptist Health South Florida at large, a technology already familiar to nurses and patients who had previously been a patient with the system.

For example, Access Passport and DocuSign were implemented in the oncology service line to complete patient consent—the first for in-person appointments and the latter for the virtual setting. Therefore, Miami Cancer Institute staff are providing high-quality cancer care without having to dip deeper into their operating budget.

“We are dedicated to continuing to serve our community and those who travel to our facility, with the highest level of quality cancer care. The pandemic has allowed us the opportunity to rethink our innovative approach to care and we are deeply humbled to be recognized by the ACCC”, shared Dr. Mark Davis, COO of Baptist Health’s Miami Cancer Institute.

“There was always the danger that the patient would take that paper prescription, go fill it at their specialty pharmacy, get that medication delivered, and start taking it beforehand,” said Morgan Nestingen, director of intake and navigation at Miami Cancer Institute. “For us, the opportunity was to do these steps all in real time without any additional support.”

Nestingen will speak at the ACCC 39th National Oncology Conference about the successes and challenges she and her team experienced with identifying and implementing technology to address treatment education, consent gathering, and adherence tracking within their oral oncolytic workflow, including how optimizing these tasks have led to an improved patient experience and employee satisfaction. Learn more about this innovation on the ACCCBuzz blog and CANCER BUZZ podcast, then register to attend the ACCC National Oncology Conference this October 12-14th in West Palm Beach, Fla.