Newswise — [FORT WASHINGTON, PA —June 1, 2017] Patient safety has long been recognized as an integral component of high-quality and effective medical care. The stakes are especially high in oncology, where avoiding errors is imperative to delivering safe and effective radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and other high-risk treatments. Moreover, there is uncertainty surrounding shifting health care priorities under the Trump administration and subsequent implications for safety and access to high-quality patient-centered cancer care.

During the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) Policy Summit: Ensuring Patient Access and Safety in Cancer Care, experts will consider these and other pertinent issues, including changing paradigms in cancer treatment, access to clinical trials and “Right to Try” legislation, and patient safety and access issues within the overall context of an increasing focus on defining and delivering high-quality cancer care through payment models based on value rather than volume. The summit takes place on Thursday, June 15, 2017, from 9:30 am – 3:00 pm at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. For press credentials, contact NCCN Communications Manager Katie Kiley Brown at [email protected].

“Addressing safety issues throughout the cancer care continuum must be met with an increased focus on guidelines, awareness, resources, and training,” said F. Marc Stewart, MD, Oncologist and Medical Director, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, and Co-Chair of the NCCN Best Practices Committee. “Understanding patient safety issues from patient, provider, and cancer center perspectives and recognizing the innovative approaches to address these gaps are integral components of high-quality cancer care.”

Clifford Goodman, PhD, of The Lewin Group will moderate the summit, which will consist of short presentations followed by roundtable discussions with lively discourse and ample time for audience questions. An abbreviated agenda is below.

As developers of the widely used NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®) that set the standard of cancer care in the United States, NCCN is invested in provision of high-quality, safe, value-based cancer care. Moreover, the library of NCCN Chemotherapy Order Templates (NCCN Templates®) include chemotherapy, immunotherapy, supportive care agents, monitoring parameters, and safety instructions based directly on recommendations within the NCCN Guidelines®. The NCCN Templates® were initially published as a result of the first NCCN patient safety policy summit held in 2006, and today NCCN has published more than 1,500 chemotherapy order templates, which have been integrated into various electronic health record (EHR) platforms for use at point of care.

AGENDA*

Welcome and Introductions

Robert W. Carlson, MD, National Comprehensive Cancer Network

 

Safety and Accountability in Oncology Care

F. Marc Stewart, MD, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance

Panel Discussion:

Safety and Accountability in Cancer Care; Past, Present, and Future

Moderated by Clifford Goodman, PhD, The Lewin Group

Panelists:

Amy P. Abernethy, MD, PhD, Flatiron

Jonathan S. Deutsch, MD, Bristol-Myers Squibb

Terry Langbaum, MHS, The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins

Steven R. Peskin, MD, MBA, FACP, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey

F. Marc Stewart, MD, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance

 

Patient Access to Safe, High-Quality Cancer Care under a New Administration

Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FACP, FASCO, American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)

Panel Discussion:

Barriers and Opportunities in Ensuring Access to Safe, High-Quality Cancer Care

Moderated by Clifford Goodman, PhD, The Lewin Group

Panelists:

Eliot Fishman, PhD, Families USA

Bruce Gould, MD, Northwest Georgia Oncology Centers

Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FACP, FASCO, ASCO

Lee Newcomer, MD, MHA, UnitedHealthcare 

Caroline Pearson, Avalere

Rodney L. Whitlock, PhD, ML Strategies

*Subject to change.

For more information about the NCCN Oncology Policy Program and to register for the event, visit NCCN.org/policy.

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About the National Comprehensive Cancer Network
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®), a not-for-profit alliance of 27 leading cancer centers devoted to patient care, research, and education, is dedicated to improving the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of cancer care so that patients can live better lives. Through the leadership and expertise of clinical professionals at NCCN Member Institutions, NCCN develops resources that present valuable information to the numerous stakeholders in the health care delivery system. As the arbiter of high-quality cancer care, NCCN promotes the importance of continuous quality improvement and recognizes the significance of creating clinical practice guidelines appropriate for use by patients, clinicians, and other health care decision-makers.

The NCCN Member Institutions are: Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, Omaha, NE; Case Comprehensive Cancer Center/University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center and Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute, Cleveland, OH; City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, CA; Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center | Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, MA; Duke Cancer Institute, Durham, NC; Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA; Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT; Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Seattle, WA; The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD; Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, IL; Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ, Jacksonville, FL, and Rochester, MN; Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY; Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL; The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, Columbus, OH; Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY; Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO; St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital/The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN; Stanford Cancer Institute, Stanford, CA; University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center, Birmingham, AL; UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, La Jolla, CA; UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Francisco, CA; University of Colorado Cancer Center, Aurora, CO; University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI; The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX; University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, Madison, WI; Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, TN; and Yale Cancer Center/Smilow Cancer Hospital, New Haven, CT.

Clinicians, visit NCCN.org. Patients and caregivers, visit NCCN.org/patients. Media, visit NCCN.org/news.