Seven Cancer Centers to Receive 2018 ACCC Innovator Award at National Oncology Conference

The Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) will honor 7 cancer centers with the 2018 ACCC Innovator Award in recognition of the inventive programs they have implemented to overcome challenges in their centers. The centers will receive the award during the ACCC 35th National Oncology Conference, to be held October 17-19 in Phoenix, Arizona. During the conference, the awardees will present their best strategies and lessons learned to encourage other cancer programs to launch similar initiatives.

Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin Clinical Cancer Center at Froedtert Hospital Campus, Milwaukee, Wisconsin,will discuss the success of its 24-hour outpatient cancer clinic, which has improved symptom management, decreased treatment plan disruption, and reduced emergency department visits at their clinic. The clinic currently averages 130 to 140 patients per month and has seen a reduction in hospital admissions, as well as utilization of radiology, electrocardiography, and lab resources.

Legacy Cancer Institute, Portland, Oregon,will be honored for its “Oncology Pharmacy Navigator,” which helps patients with medication management, a part of cancer care that can sometimes be difficult. Since implementing this strategy, the institute has seen improvements in patients’ medications adherence and accuracy of patients’ medication list. It has also helped to address medication-related symptoms more efficiently and assist those who struggle to pay for their medication. In 1 year, the program has reduced cost by $235,000.

Mount Sinai Health System & Tisch Cancer Institute, Department of Radiation Oncology, New York, New York,will share its successful implementation of a specialized palliative radiotherapy team to treat patients with advanced cancer. The team meets with a multidisciplinary tumor board and interacts with patients, caregivers, palliative care specialists, and primary care providers to develop goals of care. This strategy has resulted in a 5-day reduction in the length of stay for hospitalized radiation patients, in addition to a $20,000 reduction in cost per patient.

Ochsner Health System, Ochsner Cancer Institute, New Orleans, Louisiana,will be recognized for allowing feasible, close-to-home access to early-phase clinical cancer trials for patients in nearby communities. In collaboration with the Translational Genomics Institute, the cancer program offers personalized treatment for patients through precision cancer therapy, including next-generation sequencing and other molecular diagnostics.

Sydney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,will provide its tools and strategies to deliver a multidisciplinary team approach for managing adverse events in patients treated with immunotherapies. They have administered banners in their electronic medical record to instantly alert physicians of patients treated with immunotherapy; administered clinical procedures for physicians on-call to provide 24/7 cancer care and for nursing staff to triage patients; and provided immunotherapy orientation for new nurses and continuous education for staff.

Tri-Cities Cancer Care, Kennewick, Washington,will speak on its multifaceted public awareness campaign on the leading causes of cancer death, and the importance of cancer screenings and smoking cessation. The cancer program has partnered with senior leaders from the region’s largest employers to initiate a workplace wellness program with a focus on cancer prevention and early cancer detection for their employees.

University of North Carolina, North Carolina Cancer Hospital, Department of Pharmacy, Chapel Hill, North Carolina,will be honored for becoming the first cancer program in the United States to implement a closed-system transfer device as a safe way of administering drugs. With this device, vials can be used more than once, which has saved the cancer program $39 million in drug expense annually by reducing waste.