Douglas W. Blayney, MD, of Stanford University, and winner of the Joseph V. Simone Award for Excellence, summarizes his talk on the expense of cancer care and how we can reduce costs while maintaining safety and high value for people with cancer.
Lauren P. Wallner, PhD, MPH, of the University of Michigan, discusses her findings from a population-based study, which showed that many patients believe they had no choice about whether or not to receive radioactive iodine, even though it often does not improve survival. There is a need, she says, for better shared decision-making (Abstract 159).
Fumiko Ladd Chino, MD, of Duke University, discusses results from a population study she conducted of the opioid epidemic over the past 10 years and why these medications for cancer pain should continue to be excluded from restrictive-prescribing laws (Abstract 230).
Monika K. Krzyzanowska, MD, MPH, of Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, summarized the Keynote Lecture, including the points that clinicians should carefully plan their quality improvement projects, understand the barriers to quality, and ensure their efforts are sustainable.
Simron Singh, MD, MPH, of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, discusses initial results of his data on a new patient experience measurement strategy used at Cancer Care Ontario.
Jeremy Warner, MD, of Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, discusses the ways in which patient navigators affect cancer care and how patients benefit.
