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Financial Advocacy

The Association of Cancer Care Centers (ACCC) is committed to building the confidence of oncology financial advocates, connecting them with much-needed solutions to improve the patient experience. Through the Financial Advocacy Network’s tools and resources, ACCC empowers cancer programs and practices to proactively integrate financial health into the oncology care continuum and help patients gain access to high-quality care for a better quality of life.

For more information on this project, please contact the ACCC Provider Education department.

Featured Programs

These guidelines were created using a collaborative, consensus-based process to promote and guide the implementation of critical financial advocacy services in cancer programs and practices across the nation.

Whether you are an experienced financial advocate or new to the field, the ACCC Financial Advocacy Boot Camp prepares you to help your patients and your program address the growing issue of financial toxicity.

The ACCC Financial Advocacy Network brought together experts in financial advocacy to create this Playbook—a comprehensive tool to support onboarding and continuous learning for staff who deliver financial advocacy services.

ACCC is developing an educational program that will foster discussions on how to ease provider burden and ensure the best quality care for the patient when dealing with the utilization management technique known as prior authorization.

Learn the fundamentals of biomarker and diagnostic testing as it relates to financial navigation. Gain confidence in your ability to guide patients through the complex insurance process, practice clear communication strategies, and access helpful financial resources.

ACCC, its members, and partners have collected new and updated resources to help you develop, implement, and continue to deliver effective financial advocacy services in your cancer program or practice.

Access the most up-to-date anti-cancer medication assistance and reimbursement programs that are available to help alleviate the financial burden of cancer treatment. Search for applicable Oncology-Related Products and Companies and apply optional Coverage and Assistance Type filters to streamline your results.

The Financial Advocacy Network Community is a private forum for ACCC members to ask questions, share resources and experiences, and offer support for delivering financial advocacy services to your patients. You will need to login to your ACCC member account in order to access this benefit.

Featured Publications

Financial Advocacy Services Guidelines
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Financial-Advocacy-Network-2023-Census-Survey-Results-250x315 Financial Advocacy Network 2023 Census Survey
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Value of Financial Advocacy
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PAG-2021-200x269 Patient Assistance and Reimbursement Guide
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Improving-the-Prior-Authorization-Process-200x269 Improving the Prior Authorization Process
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Fighting Financial Toxicity
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FAN-2019-2020-Census-Survey-100x134 Financial Advocacy Network 2019-2020 Census Survey
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Making-Case-for-Hiring-Financial-Navigator-100x130 Making the Business Case for Hiring a Financial Navigator
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On-Demand Webinars

Utilizing Biomarkers in Cancer Care: Who Has It, Who Needs It, and How To Access It

In this final webinar, hear from our experts Jordan Karwedsky, Financial Counselor, Green Bay Oncology, Wendi Waugh, BS, RT(R)(T), CMD, CRT, Administrative Director of SOMC Cancer Services & Ambulatory Infusion, Southern Ohio Medical Center, and Dr. Michael R. Gieske, Director of Lung Cancer Screening. Join us as we discuss prior authorization challenges in biomarker testing, importance of providing access to biomarker testing for underserved populations, how biomarkers are shaping the future of medicine, as well as what can be done at the policy level to allow for more access.
Putting "Necessity" in Medical Necessity: How To Ensure You Are Maximizing Reimbursement

In the fifth webinar, we will hear from Angie Santiago, CRCS, Manager of Oncology Financial Advocacy, Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at the Thomas Jefferson University Health System, and Chair of ACCC’s Financial Advocacy Network, and Sarah Shaw, Oncology Program Manager at St. Luke’s Cancer Institute in Boise, ID. Join us as we discuss importance of medical necessity in oncology and how clear denial data can help maximize reimbursement.
Navigating Radiation Authorizations and Denials

In the fourth webinar, we will hear from Gretchen Van Dyck, Financial Counselor from St. Vincent Hospital Regional Cancer Center and Rachelle Gill, Program/Department Coordinator II for Proton Therapy Appeals at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. Join us as we discuss radiation authorization submissions before treatment and strategies on how to work radiation authorization denials and appeals after treatment.

More Financial Advocacy Webinars

Cancer Buzz Podcasts

Disparities in Accessing Care for AML Patients: Challenges and Solutions – [Mini Podcast] Ep 145 Mar 25, 2024

In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with Linda Hayward, patient financial advocate at the University of Maryland, Kaufman Cancer Center at Upper Chesapeake Health, about the challenges of treatment and strategies to address disparities in access and care for patients with acute myeloid leukemia.
LIVE from AMCCBS: Financial Advocacy Resources — [MINI PODCAST] Mar 11, 2024

Live this week from the ACCC 50th Annual Meeting and Cancer Center Business Summit (AMCCBS), CANCER BUZZ interviews Wendi Waugh, ACCC financial navigation committee member, about resources for financial advocacy.
NOC Preview: Financial Advocacy Guidelines to Mitigate Financial Toxicity - [MINI PODCAST] Oct 10, 2023

Hear Dr. Margaret Liang, of Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center, Los Angeles, talk about ACCC’s Financial Advocacy Network (FAN) and the Financial Advocacy Services guidelines to help cancer programs address the growing issue of financial toxicity.

More Financial Advocacy Podcasts

From Oncology Issues

How Do You DISCO?
Lauren M. Hamel, et al.

Leveraging the Discussions of Cost App to reduce financial toxicity and improve treatment cost communication.
Compliance: 2022 Oncology Coding Update
Teri Bedard, BA, RT(R)(T), CPC

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the American Medical Association's (AMA's) finalized coding updates for calendar year 2022.
Compliance: 2022 Physician and Freestanding Facilities Update
Teri Bedard, BA, RT(R)(T), CPC

The Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) for calendar year 2022.
Compliance: 2022 Hospital Regulatory Update
Teri Bedard, BA, RT(R)(T), CPC

The Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (HOPPS) for calendar year 2022.
Views: Put Yourself First Words to Live By
Dr. Cheyenne Bryant

Put yourself first: this mantra is especially important today as we continue to grapple with the implications and fallout from the COVID-19 global pandemic.

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From the ACCCBuzz Blog

Transforming Complex to Clear: New Precision Medicine Tools

November 09, 2021

The statement, “Precision medicine is revolutionizing patient care,” has at this point perhaps become a bit repetitive. But it’s truer each year. The role of biomarkers and molecular profiling in cancer diagnosis and treatment continues to expand. For five of the most common types of cancer (lung, prostate, colorectal, breast, and skin), there are more than 75 biomarkers used in clinical practice. The sheer number of treatment options across tumor types and the complexity of offering precision medicine services make it difficult for providers to introduce biomarker testing into their practices.

But biomarker testing can be a game-changer for patients. In oncology, a biomarker can indicate cancer type, how a cancer will progress if left untreated, which specific treatment may be most effective for a given cancer, and how well treatment is working over time. Offering this range of services and the complexity of creating a program for implementing them can be extensive, depending on tumor type and providers' clinical expertise.

To help community cancer programs and practices that offer, or want to offer, biomarker testing, ACCC has launched Transforming Complex to Clear, a precision medicine campaign that has developed a range of tools and resources to help bring clarity to complex patient care decisions. Designed for multidisciplinary cancer teams, these resources can enable clinicians to make educated and confident decisions that can positively influence patient outcomes.

Among these resources is a guide to the lexicon of biomarker testing, an easily searchable, comprehensive guide to biomarker terminology that can help empower the multidisciplinary cancer care team to better serve their patients. “ACCC is focused on reducing barriers to biomarker testing implementation and streamlining verbiage and defining terminology,” explains Michelle Shiller, DO, AP/CP, MGP, chair of the 2020 BiomarkerLive advisory committee. “So all care team members have a shared understanding of precision medicine fundamentals.”

Precision Medicine Library

Additional tools and resources available in ACCC’s Precision Medicine Library provide the cancer care team with comprehensive, trusted, and tangible resources that can inform their patient care decisions and help improve outcomes. From toolkits to webinars, the library features resources developed and curated by cancer care experts throughout the world. These resources offer information from pharmacists to oncologists on all aspects of precision medicine, giving providers essential knowledge to apply to patient care. Some of these resources include:

Toolkit: Biomarker Testing in Practice: Process Improvement Toolkit. This practical,resource-driven toolkit focuses on the four key elements needed when developing a precision medicine program (provider education, patient education, infrastructure, staffing & services).
Resource Library: Explore this biomarker resource bank of available materials relevant to cancer biomarkers and biomarker testing. You can filter by cancer type, area of application, and/or primary audience.
CME/CMLE on-demand summit: Optimizing Advanced NSCLC Biomarker Testing, Treatment, and Management Virtual Summit. This enduring material was recorded from a virtual summit to help members of the cancer care team gain deeper scientific knowledge, skills, and competence in biomarker testing practices, treatment selection, and management of adverse events in patients with advanced NSCLC. Participants can receive up to 4.5 hours of CME/CMLE credit.
Tool: Biomarker Testing Implementation Roadmap for Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) is an innovative learning tool that can help multidisciplinary cancer care teams obtain the knowledge they need to implement, expand, and sustain biomarker testing for patients with advanced NSCLC.
On-demand webinar: Pathology 101. Learn more about the role of laboratory medicine professionals and pathologists, including a review of testing techniques and applications as well as lab-specific regulations and their impact on biomarker testing.
Upcoming webinars: A Roadmap for MRD Testing in B-cell ALL, Parts I, 2, and 3. Join ACCC Nov. 18, Dec. 2, and Dec. 9 for a three-part webinar series on how to lay the groundwork, prepare your care team, and implement and evaluate an MRD testing program.
LinkedIn on-demand webinar: Biomarkers: A Roadmap for Personalized Lung Cancer Care. Expert panelists representing the multidisciplinary cancer care team discuss effective practices and offered tips to address current barriers to biomarker testing in the community setting.

To access even more archived and new education from ACCC on the topic of precision medicine, explore our website. ACCC’s ongoing precision medicine campaign, Transforming Complex to Clear, will continue by adding additional resources that our members are asking for. Visit us often!

More Financial Advocacy Blogs