Author(s):
In the latest episode of Oncology Unscripted, hosts Deirdre Saulet and Mark Liu sit down with Andrew Ambort, DO, a palliative care consulting physician whose work in reshaping the role of palliative care across oncology helped WellSpan Health win a 2025 ACCC Innovator Award.
In the latest episode of ACCC’s Oncology Unscripted, hosts Deirdre Saulet, PhD, and Mark Liu, MPH, sit down with Andrew Ambort, DO, a palliative care consulting physician whose work in reshaping the role of palliative care across oncology and beyond helped WellSpan Health win a 2025 ACCC Innovator Award.
In this candid conversation, Dr. Ambort shared that he never expected to build a career in palliative care. Early in medical school, he imagined a future in surgery—until he realized, as he put it, that the lifestyle “would mean never being home.” He then considered pulmonology and was advised that much of the work caring for patients with advanced lung disease would be palliative in nature. That insight prompted Dr. Ambort to pursue a palliative fellowship. “Three months in,” he recalls, “I knew this was what I was meant to do.” What drew him in was the deeply relational aspect of the work: “It reminded me of classic family doctor medicine. You meet people at their worst moments and help them through. The impact is visible.”
At WellSpan, that philosophy translated into an ambitious effort to identify and offer palliative care services to patients earlier—long before crisis moments. Before the redesign, many individuals with advanced cancers were “coming to palliative care in their last days of life,” leaving little time to improve their quality of life. Led by Andrew Munchel, MSN, RN, OCN, CPHQ, WellSpan’s oncology quality program administrator, Dr. Ambort joined the multidisciplinary team Munchel had brought together to address this issue.
Early in the initiative, the team implemented best practice advisories, but the flood of alerts quickly proved ineffective, overwhelming clinicians and underscoring the need for a better approach. The team found its solution in Epic’s End-of-Life Care Index, a more precise, nuanced, data-informed trigger. The result: a dramatic 80% increase in palliative care consults, fewer hospital deaths, and approximately $1.5 million in patient cost savings over 2 years.
Saulet emphasized that the financial impact alone should prompt cancer programs to pay attention. “The cost savings you’re seeing at the end of life are enormous—not just for health systems, but for families who are already going through so much,” she noted. She urged other cancer programs to take a closer look at this End-of-Life Care Index, adding, “If you’re on Epic, you should absolutely explore this tool. It’s already there, and it can make a meaningful difference for patients and families when it matters most.”
Liu expanded on why this matters: Families often face overwhelming medical bills after a patient has died, at a time when they are emotionally exhausted and vulnerable. “That’s not the experience we want for anyone,” he said, “especially patients with cancer.” Dr. Ambort agreed, noting that financial strain can retraumatize families. “The bills don’t stop when someone dies,” he says. “If we can reduce that burden, people can grieve appropriately instead of being pulled right back into crisis.”
The cultural shift within the cancer program has been equally significant. As palliative care became more visible—present in infusion centers, tumor boards, and morning huddles—oncologists began consulting the team more proactively. “They’d get three steps past me,” Dr. Ambort said with a smile, “and turn around to ask, ‘Hold on—can I run a patient by you?’ That’s when we knew we were part of the fabric of care.”
Saulet underscored how impressive this evolution is, given the national shortage of palliative care specialists. “Scaling up is hard,” she noted. “But you’ve figured out how to build a model that works—leveraging oncology colleagues, care coordinators, triage systems, and visibility. That’s not easy in a resource-constrained field.” Dr. Ambort credited the collaboration with oncology teams and creative scheduling, saying the partnership allows them to maximize their reach without a large tertiary team.
This award-winning program is a powerful reminder that innovation in oncology isn’t just clinical—it’s human. As Dr. Ambort put it, “My first job is to help you feel as good as possible for as long as possible.”
Listen to the full Oncology Unscripted episode here.
Resources
