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Comprehensive Cancer Care Services

ACCC offers comprehensive cancer care resources that elevate the delivery of multidisciplinary treatment throughout all stages of the cancer care journey. Cancer care services that address the full spectrum of a patient’s needs—physical, nutritional, emotional, psychosocial, spiritual, and financial—have been found to greatly improve survivor’s quality of life and outcomes.

Empowering and providing support to family and caregivers can help relieve the stress and anxiety of a cancer diagnosis, which improves the physical and mental health of both patients and caregivers. Patient navigators can positively impact a patient’s overall treatment experience by making it more efficient, coordinated, and individually focused. And whether patients are recently diagnosed or have been undergoing cancer treatment for some time, those who create a comprehensive cancer care plan, are educated about their healthcare needs, and are involved in treatment decision-making have better outcomes.

Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Services

Oncology patients who are diagnosed between the ages of 15 to 39 often face delays in diagnosis, social and emotional issues, communication challenges with providers, and financial concerns.

Care Action Plans for People with Cancer

4R Care Sequences® are guideline-based care plans providers can use with their patients as a framework to support equitable and comprehensive care from diagnosis through survivorship. They are available to members at no cost.

Empowering Caregivers

People who care for family members or friends diagnosed with cancer often experience caregiver burden. To help alleviate this burden, caregivers should be considered as crucial members of the cancer care team.

Geriatric Oncology

As the number of Americans age 65 and older continues to increase, researchers estimate that 70 percent of cancers will be diagnosed in older adults by 2030.

Making the Case for New Staff

ACCC worked with subject matter experts to develop a series of seven discipline-specific business briefs to justify hiring the staff necessary to provide comprehensive cancer care services. These business case briefs aim to show how critical these care team members are to improving the quality of care, enhancing the patient experience, supporting their colleagues, and reducing costs.

Nutrition

Proactively integrating nutrition services into cancer care can improve patient outcomes and quality of life, both during and after treatment.

Patient Navigation

ACCC offers member-driven resources, including blog posts and journal articles, to help implement, assess, and expand patient navigation services.

Psychosocial Care in Oncology

Although an important aspect of cancer care, a patient’s psychosocial health needs are often left unmet. ACCC is seeking to help establish guidelines and accreditation standards for distress screening programs so they can become more universally integrated into patient treatment plans.

Shared Decision-Making

ACCC seeks to enhance the patient experience by offering members valuable resources to incorporate shared-decision making tools and models across their programs and practices.

Supportive Care Services

Supportive care encompasses symptom and adverse event management as well as support services for the emotional, social, and psychological needs of patients and caregivers.

Survivorship Care

ACCC provides the latest resources to ensure providers are integrating survivorship care plans into the continuum of care. This important aspect of the cancer journey is designed to meet the lifelong needs of those who have been diagnosed with cancer.

Comprehensive Cancer Care Services Matrix

Realizing the compelling need to better understand the current capacity and barriers to delivery of essential comprehensive cancer care services in community-based oncology programs, the Board of Trustees of the Association of Community Cancer Centers called for and supporting a survey of invited or representative membership. Survey findings will be used to provide baseline information to guide policy, advocacy, educational initiatives, and inform value-based payment reform discussions.

Read this message from ACCC President 2019-2020 Ali McBride, PharmD, MS, BCOP: A Prescription for Sustainable Cancer Care Delivery.

In 2019 ACCC launched a national Comprehensive Cancer Care Services Survey, outcomes of which were used to develop this tiered matrix of recommendations that cancer practices and programs of varying sizes and resource levels can use to benchmark and advocate for service line growth. Provision of these key services can elevate patient care and the patient experience; reduce healthcare costs; improve care coordination; and help differentiate your cancer program in your marketplace. Now we would like to gather member feedback on these recommendations. Download the matrix, share it with your team, and submit feedback on these recommendations to matrix@accc-cancer.org.

Download Matrix Acknowledgements

From the ACCCBuzz Blog

From Oncology Issues

  • How One Community Exercise Program for People Living With Cancer Impacted Health Care Utilization
    Hanna Grossman, Margot J. Burnell, and Danielle R. Bouchard
    This study revealed significant benefits for patients who participated in a 12-week community-based exercise program, including reduced hospital admissions, shorter hospital stays, and fewer physician visits.
  • Patient Care Management Programs in Oncology
    Teri Bedard, BA, RT(R)(T), CPC
    Bedard explains the 7 new Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System implemented by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services codes effective for 2024 that are meant to address 2 main goals of the Biden Cancer Moonshot.
  •  Effective Approaches to Address Transitions
    Anna Weiss, Jocelyn Bushart, Kristina Galton, Carli Kotula, Crystal Regis, and Alissa Huston
    With more and more patients being diagnosed with breast cancer and an improved prognosis for those living with the disease, there’s a clear need to find ways to offset high patient volumes while maintaining high-quality care for longer-term survivors.

On-Demand Webinars

 

Podcasts

  • Part 3 of a 7 Part Series: Examining the Public Health Landscape in Brazil – [Mini Podcast] Ep 169
    Nov 26, 2024

    As a large country, economic disparities persist as a public health issue in Brazil, with 70% of the population depending on the public health system. According to Dr. Theodora Karnakis, the aging population of patients with cancer is expected to result in a 61% increase of new cancer cases between 2020 and 2040. The type of care received depends heavily on where patients are located, due to the varying allocation of services. Dr. Karnakis emphasized equitable access to high-quality care, thorough cancer prevention efforts, and patient education as priorities in her country.


  • Impact of Medicare Part D Changes on Access to Care for Patients with Cancer – [Podcast] Ep 168
    Nov 21, 2024

    It is crucial that multidisciplinary cancer care teams stay informed about upcoming changes to Medicare Part D under the Inflation Reduction Act. To support this effort, the Association of Cancer Care Centers (ACCC) is committed to providing updated information on health care policy changes, ensuring that both providers and patients are aware of the financial benefits. In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with Lindsey Greenleaf, JD, MBA, solution leader in federal and state policy at ADVI Health and Pam Traxel, senior vice president of alliance development and philanthropy at American Cancer Society, Cancer Action Network, to discuss the impact of these policy updates. Ms. Greenleaf sheds light on the $2,000 out-of-pocket cap that will take place for Part D patients in 2025 and how future pricing policy could have an effect on drug innovation. Ms. Traxel expands on benefits and challenges involved with providing updates to oncologists on the new Medicare Part D cap, with the goal of ensuring that all patients who could benefit are aware.


  • How Do I Say It? Patient-Provider Communication in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma Care – [Video Podcast] Ep 47
    Jul 30, 2024

    In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with Jean Louise Koff, MD, MSc, associate professor at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, about fostering trust, rapport, and collaboration in the patient-provider relationship.

  • Addressing Frequency of Care to Improve Quality of Life in Patients with Low-Risk MDS – [Video Podcast] Ep 46
    Jul 25, 2024

    In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with David Sallman, MD, associate member in the Department of Malignant Hematology at Moffitt Cancer Center, and Karley Trautman, DNP, ANP-BC, AGACNP-BC, senior instructor of Medical Oncology at Highlands Ranch Cancer Center, to discuss best practices in the management of anemia in low-risk MDS patients.

  • Defining and Managing Erythropoietin Stimulating Agents (ESAs) Failure in Patients with Low-Risk MDS – [Video Podcast] Ep 44
    Jul 11, 2024

    In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with Steven Gilmore, PharmD, BCOP, Senior Manager of Clinical Content in Pharmacy and Clinical Programs with McKesson Specialty Health, and Christopher Benton, MD, hematologist and medical oncologist at Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers, to review key considerations and emerging trends for the treatment of anemia in the low-risk MDS population.  

  • Smart-Texting High-Risk Patients After Chemotherapy Reduces ED Visits – [Mini Podcast] Ep 157
    Jul 3, 2024

     

    This machine learning algorithm runs nightly and is linked to a smart texting application that goes out to patients every morning for 7 days following chemotherapy, asking about symptoms like diarrhea, fever, nausea, vomiting, and pain. 

  • Promoting Equitable Care through the 4R Oncology® Model - [Video Podcast] Ep 43
    Jun 28, 2024

    In this episode, CANCER BUZZ TV speaks with Tom Lycan, DO, MHS, assistant professor of Hematology & Oncology at the Wake Forest School of Medicine, about a practical tool that can provide a care plan roadmap for providers and patients to mitigate precision medicine disparities.

  • Implementation of a Bispecific T-Cell Engager Therapy Program at a Community Cancer Center— [MINI PODCAST] EP 156
    Jun 25, 2024

     

    Development of this comprehensive bispecific antibody program included policy development; toxicity management; creation of patient and staff education documents; creation of clinician tools like a toxicity scoring and charting tool and an electronic order set that segregates treatment options; and a monitoring system to safely transition patients from inpatient to outpatient care. 

  • Overcoming Barriers to Holistic Survivorship Care for Immunotherapy Patients – [Podcast] Ep 153
    May 23, 2024

    In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with Brittney Baer, BSN, RN, patient care coordinator, immune effector cells, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center about key strategies and solutions to prioritize patient quality of life by addressing barriers to holistic survivorship care. 

  • A Multidisciplinary Approach to Anemia Management in High-Risk MDS and AML – [Video Podcast] Ep 42
    May 9, 2024

    In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with Amy DeZern, MD, MHS, director, Bone Marrow Failure and MDS Program, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland; Donald Moore, PharmD, BCPS, BCOP, DPLA, FCCP, clinical oncology pharmacy manager, Atrium Health Levine Cancer in Charlotte, North Carolina; and David Sallman, MD, assistant member, Department of Malignant Hematology, Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. Their discussion elucidates an array of patient-centered approaches, touches on social determinants of health, and highlights collaborative measures to support care coordination in the management of anemia in patients with high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome and acute myeloid leukemia.