This video post is part of the 2015 Cancer Policy Matters “The Imperatives for Quality Cancer Care: 20 Years Later” blog series. The third principle from the Imperatives for Quality Cancer Care states, “Standards of cancer care should be driven by the quality of care, not only by the cost of care, ...

Twenty years ago, the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship’s Imperatives for Quality Cancer Care advocated that “standards of cancer care should be driven by the quality of care.” By giving voice to the patient perspective, patient-reported outcomes (PROs) play a key role in assessing and improving the quality of care ...

“The good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who has the disease.” -William Osler Since the creation of the National Cancer Act  in 1971, the medical establishment—and indeed our entire society—has taken up the powerful metaphor of a “war on cancer” as the approach to attacking and ...

Every so often I see a patient who views cancer as a constant threat to be handled — it becomes so significant that it is as if she can never let her guard down. I always worry about this, partly because that singular focus on fighting cancer can sometimes detract ...

This guest post is part of the 2015 Cancer Policy Matters "The Imperatives for Quality Cancer Care: 20 Years Later" blog series. Although noted in the literature as early as the 1970’s, serving as the foundation for the 1982 establishment of The Wellness Community (now The Cancer Support Community) and certainly ...

Cancer Policy Matters Guest Post by Tanisha Carino, Executive Vice President, Avalere Health Just one year after the launch of the state exchanges, we have seen a remarkable drop in the number of Americans without health insurance. By the end of 2015, Avalere projects 10.5 million people will be enrolled ...

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is making great strides in ensuring that, “People with cancer have the right to a system of universal health care in which access is not precluded because of preexisting conditions, genetic or other risks factors, or employment status.”  Post by Lisa Gray as part of ...

The second most common cause of death, cancer touches all of us. According to the Institute of Medicine, the numbers are only projected to increase and care costs are skyrocketing.Yet despite its toll, it’s virtually impossible to answer the question, “Who provides high quality cancer care?” This hinders patients, providers, ...

Guest post by Peter Bach, MD, MAPP, Director of Memorial Sloan Kettering’s Center for Health Policy and Outcomes. Every November is lung cancer awareness month, but this November is on track to being a pretty special one.  Lung cancer physicians and public health professionals breathed a collective sigh of relief ...

Guest post by Lillie D. Shockney, RN, BS, MAS, Director of Johns Hopkins Breast Center and Cancer Survivorship Programs. On November 19, 2014, NCCS will present the Catherine Logan Award for Service to Survivorship to Lillie at the Focus on the Care evening reception in Washington, DC.  Though more and more ...