Association of Community Cancer Centers Releases Five Abstracts at ASCO Quality Care Symposium

Rockville, MD – The Association of Cancer Care Centers (ACCC) today announced the release of five abstracts at the ASCO Quality Care Symposium, which is being held September 24 and 25 in Boston and virtually, addressing current disparities in comprehensive cancer care and tools to overcome barriers.

Research topics include identifying health disparities in precision medicine, delivery of quality advanced ovarian and non-small cell lung (NSCLC) cancer care, programmatic evaluation of geriatric cancer care, and the creation of a self-guided training program for oncology financial advocates.

“The topics addressed with this fall’s research are significant and very timely as cancer programs across the country are looking for ways to eliminate disparities and address challenges,” said Krista Nelson, MSW, LCSW, OSW-C, FAOSW, Program Manager of Quality & Research, Cancer Support Services & Compassion, Providence Cancer Institute and ACCC President. “What we have seen time and again is that oncology professionals, from every discipline of the cancer care team, are extremely dedicated to ensuring delivering the very best in cancer care to every single patient. ACCC continues to develop and deliver research and programs to assist those efforts for every cancer center of every size.”

ACCC Abstracts released at ASCO Quality Care Symposium in September 2021:

• Identifying barriers to equitable biomarker testing in underserved patients with NSCLC: A mixed-methods study to inform quality improvement opportunities

Authors: Leigh Boehmer, Upal Kunal Basu Roy, Janelle Schrag, Nikki A. Martin, Gregory D. Salinas, Brandon Coleman, Alexandra Howson, Latha Shivakumar

Conclusions: This study identifies key areas of ongoing need related to equitable biomarker testing. Quality-improvement opportunities exist to address both clinician and patient barriers to guideline-concordant biomarker testing for underserved patients with NSCLC.

• Assessing Comprehensive Care Deficits in United States Ovarian Cancer Programs to Inform Quality Improvement Initiatives

Authors: Matthew Smeltzer, Monique Dawkins, Leigh Boehmer, Sarah Madhu Temkin, Premal H. Thaker, Leigha Senter, Anna Yemelyanova, Michelle Bigg, Jennifer Bires, Sean Christopher Dowdy, Anthony Magliocca

Conclusions: Multidisciplinary care for ovarian cancer was common across a range of cancer programs but integration of palliative care, social work, dietetics, and financial counseling could be improved. Expanding clinical trials and genetic testing and counseling were the most frequently identified quality improvement opportunities.

• Learnings from a Multi-Phase, Mixed-Methods Lung Cancer Quality Initiative in US Community Cancer Centers

Authors: Matthew Smeltzer, Percy Lee, Joseph Kim, David R. Spigel, Brendon Matthew Stiles, Alexander I. Spira, Ravi Salgia, Howard West, Michelle Shiller, Elana Plotkin, Lorna Lucas, Leigh Boehmer

Conclusion: Challenges in lung cancer care delivery can be identified and addressed using an intentional quality improvement approach. Clearly defining the problem and identifying potential solution(s) are critical steps and should occur before implementation.

• Use of the Delphi Method to Develop a Guideline-Based Geriatric Oncology Gap Assessment

Authors: Elana Plotkin, William Dale, Kah Poh Loh, Efrat Dotan, Peggy Burhenn, Carolyn J Presley, Ginah Nightingale, Randall A. Oyer, Pamela Ginex, Meghan Sri Karuturi, Stuart M. Lichtman, Leigh Boehmer

Conclusion: The ACCC Geriatric Oncology Gap Assessment offers cancer programs a validated way to evaluate care delivery for older adults with cancer. To optimize workflow, cancer programs should consider utilizing gap assessment results to develop and advance scalable quality improvement programs at their institution, taking into consideration resource level and infrastructure.

• Assessing Effectiveness of a Self-Guided Training Program for Oncology Financial Advocates

Authors: Christina Mangir, Lori Schneider, Angie Santiago, Leigh Boehmer, Fitzgerald Draper, Elana Plotkin, Lorna Lucas

Conclusions: Training, such as the Financial Advocacy Boot Camp, that builds knowledge and skills in financial screening, communication, and navigation can help cancer programs improve staffs’ ability to mitigate patient and institutional financial toxicity. Future research efforts should further define financial advocacy competencies, measure patient and institutional impact of financial navigation interventions, and assess effective practices for implementation of financial advocacy training in cancer programs.