ACCCBUZZ BLOG

Carolina Blood and Cancer Care Associate's No One Left Alone (or NOLA) initiative is a multi-phase pilot program aimed at lessening disparities in cancer care in three key areas: care access, biomarker testing, and clinical trials.

ACCC—which has made mitigating disparities in cancer care a core component of its mission—recognizes the importance of National Minority Health Month and National Minority Cancer Awareness Week this April.

Jeanie Troy, a financial navigator at Lake Region Healthcare in the Cancer Care and Research Center, discusses how to help uninsured patients access their anti-cancer treatment if they are not eligible for Medicare or Medicaid.

March is Multiple Myeloma Awareness Month. Learn how ACCC is supporting collaboration among healthcare providers with practical, scalable solutions to the real-world challenges of improving quality care delivery for patients with multiple myeloma.

After convening its members, sponsors, and industry partners in Washington, DC, for the first time since the dawn of COVID-19, ACCC Buzz shares a glimpse of the activities and insights the final day at ACCC’s 48th Annual Meeting and Cancer Center Business Summit.

ACCC convened its members, sponsors, and industry partners in person (for the first time since the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic) and online for the 48th Annual Meeting and Cancer Center Business Summit in Washington, D.C., enabling more people to participate in ways in which they were most comfortable.

In response to the ever-changing landscape of healthcare and financial advocacy, the ACCC Financial Advocacy Network is collaborating this year with its partners to update ACCC’s Financial Advocacy Services Guidelines.

As in other areas of the country, COVID-19 surges during the past two years have led to the cancellation, postponement, or downsizing of planned community outreach and screening events at Munson Healthcare in Michigan. Oncologists at Munson think it’s likely that northern Michigan will see an increase in late-stage cancer cases as a result.

Cancer screenings may have decreased since the pandemic, but the need for them hasn't. “You can continue to do the work you’re doing; we just need to be mindful, says Nora Katurakes, RN, MSN, OCN. We can’t just stop living. … We’re going to have to learn how to live with COVID-19 in our community.”

Relational work does not require a doctor’s orders, but without it there is no humanity in the delivery of patient care. Nurses who do not have time to deliver relational care can become unfulfilled, disappointed with their work, and burned out—the altruism for which many of them entered the profession gone.

As we approach the end of 2021, ACCCBuzz is recognizing the individuals who have been featured in our Financial Advocate Spotlights and the incredible stories they have shared with us.

Because transportation disruptions can result in missed appointments, treatment delays, and potentially adverse health outcomes, we must help ensure that our patients have access to safe and reliable means of transportation.

Discussions about staffing shortages, burnout, and heavy workloads have taken center stage during recent meetings with ACCC members. Learn what financial advocates and others are experiencing in their cancer program or practice and leadership are doing or plan to do to rebuild morale and team connections.

In launching its new campaign, Transforming Complex To Clear, ACCC brought together expert panelists to discuss effective practices and offer tips to address current barriers to biomarker testing in the community setting.

In 2021, ACCC launched the ACCC Community Oncology Research Institute (ACORI), which builds on ACCC’s mission to achieve equitable cancer care for all patients by forming key community partnerships. As part of this mission, ACCC hosted the ACORI Call to Action Summit, a two-day virtual event held September 13-14, 2021, to garner participant feedback and guide the future of the institute.

To help cancer programs and practices establish and maintain robust financial navigation programs, ACCC's Financial Advocacy Network recently developed the “Ready, Set, Go! Financial Advocacy Playbook” for all members of the cancer care team—particularly those who provide any level of financial advocacy services.

With projects that address acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), B-Cell ALL, and hematology disease education, ACCC is developing new resources for cancer programs and practices that focus on multidisciplinary approaches to caring for patients with blood cancer.

Amanda Henson writes a regular blog series for ACCCBuzz about how she created and helps manage a streamlined oncology service line within the Baptist Health System in Kentucky. In this post, Henson talks about Baptist Health's oncology leaders and how they united to problem-solve in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

If passed, the Medical Nutrition Therapy Act could expand Medicare Part B to cover medical nutrition therapy services for patients with cancer, who need to maintain their strength and keep a health body weight during treatment. ACCCBuzz shares more about this legislation and why its benefits are essential for oncology.

Noble experts make some of the best teachers who often do their work in the trenches, consistently performing with humility and compassion. Their influence extends beyond the workplace into both their own lives and the lives of others, and often into history. In this blog, Robin Atkins, RN, OCN, remembers The James River Clinic and its noble experts.

Palliative care services are an important element of comprehensive cancer care. However, patients are not usually introduced to palliative care providers until their services are needed. Read how Cancer Care Associates of York—a community-based private practice in York, Penn.—is changing this by identifying high-risk patients suitable for palliative interventions up front and allowing patients to access palliative care services as early as possible.

Cone Health Cancer Center—a 2021 ACCC Innovator Award winner—is fighting for health equity by addressing the barriers to care that unequally affect lower-resourced communities in the rural and urban setting of Greensboro, N.C. Learn how the cancer center has built a transportation program that provides free round-trip rides to all patients from their homes to their medical appointments.

The COVID-19 pandemic posed many new complications for cancer programs and practices across the United States. To keep COVID-19-positive patients with cancer out of the hospital where they could potentially infect others, Inova Schar Cancer Institute in Fairfax, Va., implemented remote patient monitoring technology to continually track patients’ vitals while they are at home and in between their outpatient treatments.

When a patient presents for care in an emergency department (ED), unexpected issues unrelated to their chief complaint may be flagged. To help patients better navigate our complex healthcare system after receiving news of an incidental finding during an ED visit, the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Adult ED and Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center partnered to follow-up with these patients after their discharge to help them initiate the appropriate follow-up care.