Kerin B. Adelson, MD, of the Yale Cancer Center, discusses the major healthcare cost drivers at the end of life—aggressive treatments, emergency room visits, and futile care—and strategies for improving value. (Abstract 3)
Ethan Basch, MD, of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, summarizes a session he chaired on the burgeoning use of patient-reported outcomes and wearable sensors in clinical practice and research.
Joseph O. Jacobson, MD, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses a session he co-chaired on the thorny questions of how best to improve cancer care.
Joseph V. Simone, MD, of the Simone Consulting Company, reflects on the prospects for the future of safety and quality.
Lee N. Newcomer, MD, of the UnitedHealth Group, gives his perspective on how to assess quality in the age of precision medicine.
Sandra L. Wong, MD, of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, summarizes three abstracts for which she was the discussant. The topics were rates of surgical site infections, an online resource for hospital cancer surgery volumes, and barriers to oncology appointments at comprehensive cancer centers. (Abstracts 171, 172, 55)
