The Employers Centers of Excellence in Cancer Care: A collaboration of employers and providers to improve cancer care.

Abstract

141 Background: Rising costs demand collaborations that lower expenditures and improve patients’ experiences and outcomes. We created a novel employer-provider collaboration to enhance value-based cancer care. Methods: We created an Employers Center of Excellence Network (ECEN) for the Pacific Business Group on Health (PBGH) employee groups. The ECEN provides competitive bundled rates that include travel for in-person patient consultation, advanced assessment and treatment by multidisciplinary case reviews, and ongoing specialized treatment care coordination and follow-up on a routine basis with the local care team.The ECEN development process included: focus groups, expert panel development, and a rigorous selection process. A Request for Proposal was publicized to all west coast NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers. After interviews, selected sites were invited to submit a full proposal and a few were selected for a site visit.. In addition to overall cancer care excellence, a key criterion for acceptance was the demonstrated willingness and ability of the center to provide long-term support for the patient and home oncologist in the patient’s home market, so that the center’s expertise and support would be ongoing for the duration of the cancer treatment. Results: Of 8 sites that participated in team-assessment interviews, 4 were selected to submit a full proposal, 3 selected for in-person visits, and 1 selected to participate. In January 2019, we plan to implement a 6-month pilot with a PBGH employer group and the provider site to evaluate the ECEN's feasibility and effects on quality, patient-reported outcomes, and costs. Conclusions: Our novel employer-provider collaboration aims to improve cancer care delivery by providing planned and supported NCI-designated cancer care in close collaboration with the home oncologist. We plan to expand the ECEN development process across the US to develop a network of collaborating providers and employers to improve patient-centered, value-based cancer care.