FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
Don Jewler, ACCC Communications Director
301.984.9496, ext. 208
djewler@accc-cancer.org
For Immediate Release: October 27, 2005
Hospital Executives, Oncology Leaders to Gather for Association of Community Cancer Centers Summit Meeting
Uwe Reinhardt, PhD, noted healthcare economist, will be keynote speaker
ROCKVILLE, MD—Hospital CEOs and CFOs, vice presidents of oncology services, and oncology pharmacy leaders will gather in Washington, DC, Nov. 3, 2005, for the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) 1st Hospital Summit, “Seismic Shifts in Cancer Care Delivery: Strategies to Thrive.” Please join us in Washington, DC, at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel. Meeting agenda is available online at ACCC's website.
Dr. Uwe Reinhardt, one of the nation's leading authorities on healthcare economics and the future of the health industry, will be the keynote speaker. Other leading experts include Andre Cheng from The Advisory Group Company, William Suvari from Sg2, and Phil Gaugahn from Solucient.
A key Hospital Summit goal is to explore the future of cancer care delivery and to facilitate discussions between hospital CEOs/CFOs and their cancer service line leaders.
"Starting in 2006, the healthcare community will experience ‘seismic’ shifts in the way it delivers cancer care,” said Christian Downs, JD, MHA, ACCC Executive Director. “Dramatic changes are underway—new technologies and oral anticancer drugs, new hospital/physician relationships, new payment policies and reimbursement restraints."
Key questions that will be explored include:
- What will cancer care look like in five and ten years? New oral drugs, technologies, and treatment procedures are changing the delivery of oncology care. Experts will explore the implications for hospitals when cancer becomes a manageable, chronic disease.
- Who will pay for new technologies and treatments and what are the implications for your hospital? The expense of new technologies and treatments may bring the healthcare system crashing down.
- As the oncology landscape changes and margins tighten, what services should hospitals build up and which should they cut back? Experts look at what happens to the infusion unit when oral drugs become central to cancer care and, for example, whether hospitals should start their own genomics lab.
The Association of Community Cancer Centers provides a national forum for addressing issues that affect community cancer programs, such as regulatory and legislative issues, measurements of the quality of care, and clinical research. Its unique membership of more than 650 hospital cancer programs and oncology private practices includes all members of the cancer care team: medical and radiation oncologists, surgeons, cancer program administrators and medical directors, oncology nurses, pharmacists, radiation therapists, oncology social workers, and cancer program data managers.
