O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center Magazine Spring 2020 | Page 19

CONNECTING THE DOTS
Blurring the lines
The various life-saving clinical trials and therapies that
have become standard for cancer care are only made
available at UAB through the efforts of about 400
scientists and physician-scientists whose research has
found a home in the O’Neal Cancer Center.
“Having scientists who are discovering and who then
translate those discoveries from the lab bench to the
patient’s bedside makes us unique. Offering novel
therapies, such as CAR T-cell therapy, are critical to
our role as a comprehensive cancer center,” DeMoss
said. “So it’s that complex, comprehensive cancer care
that’s unique to us and where we can really differentiate
ourselves for our patients.”
Scientists depend on the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer
Center to support and invest in clinical trials and basic
research, and the Cancer Center depends on the Cancer
Service Line to populate those trials and studies with
patients who, in turn, benefit from having access to the
most advanced treatments and therapies available today.
“That’s the beauty of academic medicine,” DeMoss said.
“Clinicians can’t thrive without research and discovery, and
research and discovery can’t thrive without clinical care.”
While the relationship between research and patient
care might not be immediately apparent in an academic
medical center like UAB, Huh says that the lines
separating the two in the past have since blurred and
that this positive relationship should be reflected in the
organization of the new Cancer Service Line.
“If you don’t maintain and grow the clinical mission, you
cannot maintain and grow the academic mission because
they are synergistic,” Huh said.
The line leaders
With an integrated signature Cancer Service Line, the
O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center and UAB Medicine
plan to provide patients who seek cancer treatment at
UAB with their own dedicated teams of multidisciplinary
cancer specialists, individualized treatment plans
developed by these teams of disease-specific experts
and clinical navigators who will guide each patient
through every step of his or her treatment plan.
This practice originally began with a pilot of the Cancer
Service Line’s oncology care model. Now, the Cancer
Service Line is building out that model to serve all
cancer patients by introducing a team of 20 nurse
navigators and seven patient navigators to support
patients across all cancer types.
“We’re connecting the dots of cancer
care so that our patients have access
to the best cancer treatment available
without leaving Alabama.”
— Jordan DeMoss, MSHA
Vice President, Cancer Service Line
“We had the opportunity to participate in the Center for
Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Oncology Care Model to
further study the impact of navigation,” DeMoss said. “We
proved that it works, and so now we’re scaling it so that it
looks the same, no matter where you get cancer care at
UAB. Over this next year, we’re going to be implementing
this program so that every cancer disease site will have a
navigation team.”
DeMoss believes that this kind of dynamic, personalized
care is at the heart of the Cancer Service Line.
“You will know that, as a cancer patient at UAB, you have a
quarterback,” he said. “You have somebody who you can
call, no matter what, with any questions that you have.”
The role of the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center
in the Cancer Service Line will be similar to that of these
cancer navigators. For both, the objective is to help
coordinate the many clinical trials, advocacy efforts,
patient resources and scientific expertise already
present within the Cancer Center and then use them to
inform the way cancer is treated at every level of disease
management at UAB, from prevention and diagnosis to
treatment and survivorship.
“That’s really the goal of the Cancer Service Line,” DeMoss
said. “The parts are there. It’s bringing them all together in
an integrated way, and that takes a lot of systematic work,
it takes a lot of planning, it takes a lot of infrastructure and
it takes a lot of communication and marketing.
“It’s really all about connecting the dots, but that’s what
we’re doing. We’re connecting the dots of cancer care so
that our patients have access to the best cancer treatment
available without leaving Alabama.”
Kendra Carter contributed to this report.
NEW APPOINTMENT PHONE NUMBER:
Patients and referring physicians should call
[phone] to make an appointment
with a cancer specialist at UAB.
UAB.EDU/CANCER
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