Association of Community Cancer Centers Collaborates with Advisory Board to Conduct 8th Annual Trends in Cancer Care Survey

The Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) and Advisory Board’s Oncology Roundtable announced today their collaboration to launch a comprehensive survey that will capture the successes and challenges cancer programs across the country are facing in the current healthcare environment. Pfizer Oncology provides funding and support to ACCC for the “Trending Now in Cancer Care” survey.

“This is the eighth year of our ‘Trends’ survey, and ACCC is very excited to work with Advisory Board to take the survey to the next level and offer a fundamentally critical look at cancer care issues that are affecting both patients and cancer programs today”, Christian Downs, ACCC Executive Director notes. “By taking the pulse on issues such as program mergers and acquisitions, clinical pathways usage, and precision medicine and immunotherapy, ACCC can continue to provide needed resources to its members.”

Additional hot topics addressed in the “Trending Now in Cancer Care” survey include:

• Hospital and physician alignment strategies
• Value-based care program implementation
• Accreditation and quality improvement initiatives

• Telehealth opportunities
• EHR use and interoperability
• Clinical staffing challenges
• Development and funding of supportive care services
• Patient barriers to care, including financial advocacy services
• Participation in clinical trials
• Oral chemotherapy programs
• USP 797/800 compliance

Findings will help cancer programs assess their strengths and weaknesses. Survey participants will receive a customized report, comparing their data to national benchmarks. ACCC and Oncology Roundtable members who complete the survey will also receive access to interactive tools and cohort data. ACCC and Advisory Board will use survey data to assess current member needs.

“The Oncology Roundtable is thrilled to team with the ACCC on this survey,” states Lindsay Conway, Managing Director for the Oncology Roundtable at Advisory Board. “This collaboration will further our understanding of how cancer providers across the country are adapting to a changing health care environment, as well as help us identify strategies to ensure cancer programs’ success in the coming years.”

The “Trending Now in Cancer Care” survey is open to all oncology programs in the United States. Respondents do not need to be members of ACCC or the Oncology Roundtable to participate. Any members of an organization’s multidisciplinary cancer team, including, cancer program executives and administrators, clinical staff, and physicians are encouraged to participate.

The survey will be available online for approximately four weeks, beginning July 24, 2017. It is estimated that the survey will take approximately 20-30 minutes to complete. Questions are multiple choice.

About Advisory Board

Advisory Board is a best practices firm that uses a combination of research, technology, and consulting to improve the performance of 4,500+ health care organizations. As the health care business of The Advisory Board Company (NASDAQ: ABCO), Advisory Board forges and finds the best new ideas and proven practices from its network of thousands of leaders, then customizes and hardwires them into every level of member organizations, creating enduring value. For more information, visit www.advisory.com.

About the Association of Community Cancer Centers

The Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) is the leading advocacy and education organization for the multidisciplinary cancer care team. More than 23,000 cancer care professionals from over 2,000 hospitals and practices nationwide are affiliated with ACCC. It is estimated that 65 percent of the nation's cancer patients are treated by a member of ACCC. Providing a national forum for addressing issues that affect community cancer programs, ACCC is recognized as the premier provider of resources for the entire oncology care team. Our members include medical and radiation oncologists, surgeons, cancer program administrators and medical directors, senior hospital executives, practice managers, pharmacists, oncology nurses, radiation therapists, social workers, and cancer program data managers. For more information, visit ACCC's website at www.accc-cancer.org. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and read our blog, ACCCBuzz.