Achieving the Cancer Moonshot goal of reducing the national cancer death rate by 50% over the next 25 years will require improved interventions and increased access to cancer care. Emerging research is fostering paradigm-altering improvements to cancer diagnosis and treatment, and innovative technologies are expanding access to cancer services to broader patient populations. At the same time, many programs face capacity and resource constraints—which will continue to rise as demand for cancer services grows in the coming years. The aging US population is predicted to drive an increase in cancer incidence of almost 50% by 2050.
Many cancer programs are facing significant challenges to maintaining access to care. By focusing on core operational imperatives, cancer programs can deliver advanced care and expand access to that care while maintaining a focus on the patient experience.
As cancer programs look to the next decade, administrative and clinical leaders will need to implement novel approaches to increase patient access, improve operational efficiency, and ensure equity for all patients. Subspecialized physicians and excellent clinical outcomes remain fundamental to maintaining a competitive cancer program; this whitepaper does not address those topics, as it is assumed that programs have focused their development efforts in those areas over the past 10 to 20 years. Instead, the paper explores four pillars for creating a differentiated patient experience:
While each pillar must be understood on its own, cancer leaders who recognize how the pillars overlap can position their programs to reap the full rewards of investing in these initiatives—ensuring that their programs can continue bringing cutting-edge, patient-centric care to their communities and drive financial improvement for their organization.
