Randall F. Holcombe, MD, of the Icahn Mount Sinai School of Medicine, discusses the challenges of delivering quality care in an academic setting at a large hospital.
Steven Shak, MD, of Genomic Health, discusses mortality among patients with early-stage hormone receptor–positive invasive breast cancer in the SEER database who were treated based on the 21-gene Recurrence Score results (Abstract 176).
Sarina Isenberg, PhD Candidate, of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, discusses the cost savings of a comprehensive hospital-based palliative care program. (Abstract 2)
Joseph V. Simone, MD, of the Simone Consulting Company, reflects on the prospects for the future of safety and quality.
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)
Dawn L. Hershman, MD, of Columbia University Medical Center, summarizes a joint ASCO/NCI session on this important topic, including the challenges and solutions.
