Bridging the Gap: Enhancing Cancer Care Through Financial Navigation
CANCER BUZZ
The high cost associated with cancer diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship makes the burden of financial toxicity an unavoidable reality for many patients—and makes financial navigators central to the delivery of high-quality cancer care. In this vodcast episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with Heather Simpson, BCPA, patient financial navigator lead, who shares her experience using the ACCC Financial Advocacy Network’s financial advocacy services guidelines assessment tool to pinpoint financial navigation challenges within her cancer program. Heather Simpson, BCPA Patient Financial Navigator...
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Managing CDK4/6 Inhibitor Toxicities in Breast Cancer
CANCER BUZZ
Effective management of adverse events and addressing barriers to care are critical to optimizing outcomes and maintaining quality of life for patients receiving CDK4/6 inhibitors. In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with Julia Lea Ziegengeist, PharmD, BCOP, clinical pharmacist coordinator in solid tumor oncology at Atrium Health Levine Cancer Institute about proactive, team-based strategies to identify, monitor, and manage treatment-related toxicities in patients with early-stage and metastatic HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer. Dr. Ziegengeist sheds light on the patient journey, the...
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Increasing Access and Representation in Clinical Trials
CANCER BUZZ
Clinical trials are vital to offering and developing the most effective treatment options. However, there are large disparities in enrollment across race, ethnicity, geography, and type of cancer care center. Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center in Baton Rouge, LA uses local partnerships, culturally tailored outreach, and workforce innovation to drive sustainable and equitable participation in clinical trials. Minorities now make up 21% of their clinical trial participation, surpassing the national average. Following these meaningful gains in attracting local minority populations and underserved...
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Stay Ahead of the Curve on CDK4/6 Inhibitor Toxicities
CANCER BUZZ
Anticipating and managing CDK4/6 inhibitor toxicities in HR+ HER2- breast cancer is essential to improving patient quality of life and optimizing clinical outcomes. In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with Diana Van Ostran, PharmD, BCOP, clinical pharmacy specialist – breast clinic at Miami Cancer Institute, Baptist Health South Florida, about strategies to monitor and manage treatment-related adverse events in patients with early-stage and metastatic breast cancer receiving CDK4/6 inhibitors. She discusses the importance of individualized care and robust patient education around lifestyle...
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Transforming Cancer Detection and Treatment
CANCER BUZZ
In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with Bart Daugherty, vice president of clinical technology and systems at Georgetown Cancer Center, Lifepoint Health, about his program’s receipt of a 2025 ACCC Innovator Award. Lifepoint’s innovation, Transforming Cancer Detection and Treatment with the AI-Driven Healthy Person Program, leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze the health records of all patients who have received care at Lifepoint Health’s facilities and identify those who are at risk of developing catastrophic diseases. This initiative, dubbed the Healthy Person Program, has...
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Adopting Machine Learning-Enabled Decision Support to Improve Oncology End-of-Life Outcomes
CANCER BUZZ
In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with Andrew Munchel, MSN, RN, OCN, CPHQ, quality program administrator, oncology service line at WellSpan Health, WellSpan Cancer Institute about his program’s receipt of a 2025 ACCC Innovator Award. WellSpan Cancer Institute’s innovation, Adopting Machine Learning-Enabled Decision Support to Improve Oncology End-of-Life Outcomes, involved the implementation of the End-of-Life Care Index, a machine learning and cognitive computing model that predicts 12-month mortality risk, into the cancer program’s clinical decision support tool. Driven by a desire...
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Ambulatory Care Excellence (ACE): Charting a New Path in Ambulatory Care Model and Coordination
CANCER BUZZ
In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with Anna Liza Rodriguez, MSN, MHA, RN, OCN, NEA-BC, chief nursing officer and vice president of Nursing and Patient Care Services at Fox Chase Cancer Center about her program’s receipt of a 2025 ACCC Innovator Award. Fox Chase Cancer Center’s innovation, Ambulatory Care Excellence (ACE): Charting a New Path in Ambulatory Care Model and Coordination, is a structured approach designed to improve efficiency, coordination, and patient outcomes in ambulatory cancer care while ensuring top of license scope of work for clinicians. Rodriguez will discuss key...
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Optimizing Germline and Somatic Testing in Prostate Cancer
CANCER BUZZ
Genetic factors play a critical role in prostate cancer treatment planning, with both germline and somatic mutations guiding therapeutic decisions. The Association of Cancer Care Centers (ACCC) remains committed to improving prostate cancer care and has developed the Metastatic Prostate Cancer Handbook: A Guide to Optimizing Outcomes with Germline and Somatic Testing. In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with Andrea Murphy, FNP-C, ACGN, CGRA, genetics nurse practitioner at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center and Amy D. Smith, FNP-BC, director at Meredith & Jeannie Ray Cancer Center, about the...
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Better Bladder Cancer Care, Closer to Home
CANCER BUZZ
Navigating the growing complexity of bladder cancer care is essential to improving patient access and treatment closer to home. In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with Suzanne Merrill, MD, urologic oncologist at Colorado Urology about barriers and solutions to delivering high-quality bladder cancer care in community settings. CANCER BUZZ also speaks with Patrick Hensley, MD, urologist at University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center, about implementing the Delivering High-Quality Bladder Cancer Care infographic in the community setting. Created by ACCC and BCAN, the infographic describes the...
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ASCO E-Poster: Immune-Related Adverse Events
CANCER BUZZ
Immune-related adverse events (AEs) are becoming more frequent in oncology patients receiving immunotherapy. To better understand emerging trends and education needs, the Association of Cancer Care Centers (ACCC) developed the Immuno-Oncology Census as part of its ongoing commitment to sharing up-to-date strategies for managing adverse events. In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with Bat-ami Gordon, clinical research PhD candidate at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who discusses best practices for cancer care providers to identify immune-related AEs caused by immunotherapy. ...
info_outlineThere is an increasing awareness of the importance of screening for social drivers of health (SDOH) for patients with cancer. Social drivers like income level and stable housing can impact a patient’s access to quality cancer care. To help multidisciplinary teams in oncology care screen for SDOH, ACCC has developed a screening tool to help identify potential SDOH factors that may hinder access to cancer treatment and clinical trial participation. In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with Richard Martin III, MD, MPH, medical director of Health Equity and Community Engagement at Tennessee Oncology and Dana McDaniel, DNP, FNP-C, AOCNP, director of Oncology and Clinical Research at Mosaic Life Care about their experiences using the screening tool as part of ACCC’s pilot program.
“Everybody’s role with SDOH is different, but really, everyone has a role with SDOH assessment—taking the time to sit down with the patient, ask the questions, listen to them, and then connect them to the appropriate services so that we can tailor their care and ultimately improve quality.” - Dana McDaniel, DNP, FNP-C, AOCNP
“Being able to capture data around patients’ interest [in clinical trials], their awareness and their barriers, and being able to cross reference those 3 things to better focus strategies around [trial] enrollment…that's just going to be gold as far as information to help you know where to go…and when that patient's ready, to help get them onto a trial.” – Richard Martin III, MD, MPH
Richard Martin III, MD, MPH
Medical Director, Health Equity and Community Engagement
Tennessee Oncology
Nashville, Tennessee
Dana McDaniel, DNP, FNP-C, AOCNP
Director of Oncology and Clinical Research
Mosaic Life Care
St. Joseph, Missouri
Additional Resources:
ACCC SDOH Screening Tool (English) (https://bit.ly/4ikNPdb)
ACCC SDOH Screening Tool (Spanish) (https://bit.ly/4ixsixA)