An Oncology Unscripted Episode
In this episode of Oncology Unscripted, hosts Mark Liu and Deirdre Saulet speak with 2025 ACCC Innovator Award Winner Andrew Ambort, DO, a palliative care consulting physician at WellSpan Health. Dr. Ambort received the award for his team’s innovation “Adopting Machine Learning-Enabled Decision Support to Improve Oncology End-of-Life Outcomes,” which leveraged an existing module in the electronic health record to integrate a 12-month mortality risk into clinical workflows. He discusses the vision behind this initiative, plans for expansion into other specialties and service lines, and the human impact that early, integrated palliative care has had on WellSpan’s patient community.
“[Caregivers] are so busy dealing with the chaos of end-of-life care...and then [they] get this bill at the end that surprises [them] too. It’s not the experience we want for anyone, especially patients with cancer.” – Mark Liu, MHA
“Unfortunately, the bills don’t stop coming when people die...and it puts them right back in that [difficult] place. Being able to reduce that cost helps them grieve appropriately and get to a place where they [find acceptance] and prevent backsliding.” – Andrew Ambort, DO
“The visibility is huge in terms of staying at the forefront of the oncology team’s mind...[and reminding them] this is a resource we need to be leveraging and bringing into the fold.” – Deirdre Saulet, PhD
Guests:
Andrew Ambort, DO
Palliative Care Consulting Physician
WellSpan Health
To submit a topic of discussion to the podcast, please email mark.liu@mountsinai.org and deirdre.saulet@hellojasper.com.
Resources
The 2026 Oncology Unscripted series is exclusively sponsored by: Advarra
The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s)/faculty member(s) and do not reflect the official policy or position of their employer(s) or the Association of Cancer Care Centers.
July 8, 2026
June 30, 2026
At the 2026 ASCO Annual Meeting, the Louisiana Oncology Society received the ASCO Jeffrey C Ward Affiliate Advocacy Award for advancing critical advocacy priorities that have translated into meaningful legislative victories. The Iowa Oncology Society and Washington State Medical Oncology Society were also recognized for their advocacy efforts in 2025 at the meeting, receiving second place awards.
