Jordan Karwedsky is a financial counselor at Green Bay Oncology and has worked in oncology for 14 years. She first joined Green Bay Oncology’s billing department and later transferred to the clinical setting as a financial counselor. Karwedsky is part of a team that is responsible for obtaining authorizations for all medications, labs, diagnostic imaging, and radiation treatments. This team also supports patients by enrolling them into local and national foundations, as well as pharmaceutical company co-pay card and patient assistance programs to assist patients with out-of-pocket costs. Her most important role at Green Bay Oncology is as an advocate for patients.
Karwedsky participates in several committees at Green Bay Oncology, including its Clinical Practice Committee, and she works with providers to update clinical pathways. She has presented on financial advocacy at numerous meetings for the Association of Cancer Care Centers (ACCC), including the 2016 ACCC National Oncology Conference, and serves on multiple task forces and committees for the association. Karwedsky has also consulted with other cancer programs to help them develop financial counseling programs and worked with outside donors to obtain funding for an internal patient assistance program.
Aimee Hoch, LSW, OSW-C, FACCC, is a master’s-level social worker with 20-plus years of experience in healthcare and behavioral health. A financial navigator for the oncology program at Grand View Health and consultant for Cancer Support Community, Hoch advocates for individuals diagnosed with cancer by meeting them with empathy and connecting them to resources during their most vulnerable times.
Hoch has been a guest on CANCER BUZZ TV, Patient Power, The Can Survivor with Kelsey Smith podcast, and WDVR 88.7 FM. She has been featured on breastcancer.org and in Patient Power and the Association of Cancer Care Centers (ACCC) financial advocate spotlight. Hoch speaks about financial toxicity and the role of financial navigation in cancer care. She is an active member of the ACCC Financial Advocacy Network and belongs to the network’s Advisory Committee and Initiatives Task Force. Hoch is also a member of Cancer Support Community’s Biosimilars Advisory Board. She has contributed to the ACCC Patient Assistance & Reimbursement Guide and OncoLink News. Hoch earned her Master of Social Work from Fordham University at Lincoln Center.
Sarah Hudson-DiSalle oversees the medication assistance program and reimbursement services for infusion services at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – The James. She has extensive experience in healthcare information technology, hospitals, managed care, pharmaceutical revenue cycle management, patient access to pharmaceuticals, and healthcare management.
Dr. Hudson-DiSalle earned her Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from the University of Toledo and, after practicing pharmacy for seven years, completed her Doctor of Pharmacy at The Ohio State University. She is dedicated to improving patient access and reimbursement services for infusion medications at The James Cancer Hospital.
Jared Kast, RT(T), MHA, is the executive director of the Hall Perrine Cancer Center at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He began his career as a radiation therapist at Gundersen Health System in La Crosse, Wisc. Kast has grown into multiple leadership roles, learning about all areas of cancer care.
Kast has worked over the years to help build and transform oncology care delivery to view patients holistically, including the financial aspects of cancer care that can create barriers to access and place a severe burden on patients and their families
Margaret “Maggie” Liang, MD, MSHPM, is a gynecologic oncologist and health services researcher at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles, Calif. Her research focuses on developing interventions to address patient and caregiver financial toxicity, and she has several years of experience helping with developing a financial navigation program at the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).
Dr. Liang serves as the network relations lead for the Emotional Well-Being and Economic Burden (EMOT-ECON) Research Network, which aims to establish a national network of stakeholder members to advance science on the economic consequences of disease, as well as its impact on patients’ emotional well-being. She completed an obstetrics and gynecology residency at The Ohio State University and a gynecologic oncology fellowship at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Dr. Liang also earned a Master of Science in Health Policy and Management from UCLA.
Brittany McArn, OPN-CG, CPPN, is the financial navigation manager for Outpatient Oncology Services at FirstHealth of the Carolinas, Inc, in Pinehurst, North Carolina. She identified a need for comprehensive financial advocacy resources and spearheaded the development of the center’s financial navigation department for oncology and hematology, which secures prior authorizations for outpatient orders, manages referrals, provides coverage and benefit education, connects patients with community and treatment plan resources to lower out-of-pocket expenses, and addresses personal financial toxicity during treatment. McArn is dedicated to the advancement of nurse and lay navigation services within oncology and her goal is to reduce health inequity among patients living with and affected by a cancer diagnosis.
McArn earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. She has also earned certifications from the Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators (AONN+) and the Patient-Centered Education & Research Institute (PCERI), credentialing her as an Oncology Patient Navigator-Certified Generalist and a Certified Professional Patient Navigator.
Angie Santiago, BBA, CRCS, FACCC, is a senior business manager for medical oncology at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at the Thomas Jefferson University Health System. She created and implemented the Oncology Patient Assistance Program, which the health system uses to help patients acquire supplemental financial coverage that exceeds what the hospital’s business office has traditionally provided.
Santiago has worked in healthcare for more than two decades within patient access, revenue cycle, and financial counseling. She is a graduate of the Association of Cancer Care Centers Financial Advocacy Network boot camp and currently services as chair for the network’s Advisory Committee. Santiago has also presented on financial toxicity and related topics at patient navigators’ networking meetings.
Francinna Scott-Jones, ROCC, CPAR, FACCC, is a knowledgeable professional specializing in healthcare revenue cycle. She is the financial coordinator for the Radiation Oncology Department at Northside Hospital Cancer Institute in Atlanta, Ga. For the past 25 years, Scott-Jones has focused her talents on radiation oncology. She has been responsible for the revenue cycle process for freestanding radiation oncology centers and outpatient hospital-based facilities. In a previous role, Scott-Jones served as the billing and reimbursement director of a central business office for a large radiation oncology practice management company. That office was responsible for billing and collections for 24 practices located throughout the U S.
Scott-Jones is passionate about working to mitigate disparities to accessing healthcare. She believes that quality healthcare is a right that should be afforded to all people regardless of their race and/or socioeconomic background. Working with the Association of Cancer Care Centers Financial Advocacy Network aligns Scott-Jones with her goal to make a difference in oncology patients’ lives.
Wendi Waugh, BS, RT(R)(T), CMD, ODS, FACCC, is the administrative director of cancer services and ambulatory infusion at Southern Ohio Medical Center in Portsmouth, Ohio. She brings more than 30 years of experience in healthcare to this role. Waugh began her career in medical imaging but has spent the last 28 years in oncology. Her passion for community health and development led her to assume a larger leadership role at Southern Ohio Medical Center in 2013, when she assumed leadership of the community health and wellness teams.
A survivor of breast cancer, Waugh’s interests include community development, public speaking, leadership, dance, fitness, hiking and biking, and spending time with her family. She is a graduate of the Radiologic Technology Program at Shawnee State University and received her training for radiation therapy at Weber State University. Waugh received a Bachelor of Science in health administration and health informatics from Kennedy-Western Reserve, and she is also a certified cancer registrar and certified medical dosimetrist.