Divya Gupta, MD, of the Stanford Cancer Center, discusses an intervention utilizing a computer model and lay care coaches to improve advance care planning conversations with patients who have metastatic cancer. The study, Dr. Gupta reports, showed a trend toward less intensive care for patients at the end of life.
Divya A. Parikh, MD, of Stanford University School of Medicine, discusses findings that suggest an evidence-based tool, the Serious Illness Conversation Guide, may engage patients with metastatic or recurrent urologic cancer in goals-of-care conversations, potentially resulting in an increase of documentation of their goals in the electronic medical record.
Tina Shih, PhD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the rising cost-sharing requirement from private insurance, which has worsened the financial burden for patients with cancer. She believes that cost-containment policies alone may not be enough to ease this hardship.
Morgan R.L. Lichtenstein, MD, of Columbia University Medical Center, discusses a single-center prospective study examining the complex relationship between time to oral oncolytic receipt and clinical or process-related factors, such as prior authorization, diagnosis, and insurance type.
Benjamin W. Corn, MD, of Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, discusses hope: what it takes for hope to thrive; how he and his colleagues are helping patients and providers become more hopeful through workshops; and his collaboration with the Southwest Oncology Group to aid patients, through hopefulness, to better adhere to treatment regimens.
Courtney Williams, DrPH, of the National Cancer Institute, discusses the costs associated with cancer survivors who don’t take their medications and cites the need for research to better understand whether residing in an urban or rural area may affect prescription adherence, and what interventions might help increase drug adherence and improve health outcomes.
