Independence Blue Cross and Jefferson Health study published in the journal Cancer finds outpatient supportive oncology programs improve care and reduce costs

Results from a study published in the journal Cancer by Independence Blue Cross (IBX) and Jefferson Health show positive outcomes to having supportive oncology programs. The study found that these types of programs are associated with fewer in-patient hospital admissions and emergency room visits. They also help lower the total financial costs for patients receiving advanced care, the study shows.

Supportive oncology programs integrate social work, nutritional counseling, navigation, financial advocacy, nursing, palliative medicine, and pain management for psycho‐oncology with standard oncology treatment to meet the multidimensional care needs of patients with cancer.

"Supportive oncology programs are an enormous resource for our members, and the data show how care utilization patterns change in a positive way for those in need of these supportive services. My hope is that others in the health care field are encouraged by our work and make it a priority to explore these types of programs. Bridging the gap in resources and expertise can help ensure that everyone benefits from the life-enhancing services that supportive oncology programs can provide," said Aaron Smith-McLallen, Ph.D., director of Health Informatics & Advanced Analytics at Independence Blue Cross and one of the study authors.

IBX and Jefferson Health, along with Thomas Jefferson University researchers, took a unique approach to the study. They used three distinct comparison groups, so they could ask more questions and account for different types of potential biases. They looked at a treatment group that included patients who were part of a supportive oncology program at Jefferson's Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center and compared it to the following:

• Patients who received palliative care at Jefferson Health before they had a supportive oncology program in place.
• Patients who received palliative care in Southeastern Pennsylvania from a non-Jefferson health provider.
• Patients who received cancer care in Southeastern Pennsylvania from a non-Jefferson health provider but did not have palliative care.

The findings provide important new evidence on the positive impact and effectiveness of supportive oncology programs in patients with advanced cancer. They also suggest that these types of programs can improve the quality and efficiency of care for patients with advanced cancer.

"Our study demonstrates that supportive oncology programs not only enhance patient care but also lead to more efficient healthcare utilization and lower costs. These findings underscore the importance of integrating comprehensive support services into standard cancer treatment, potentially transforming the landscape of advanced cancer care. This can only be accomplished on a large scale if both payors and healthcare institutions collaborate as we are happy to have done with IBX on this work," said Brooke Worster, M.D., FACP, Associate Professor of Medicine, Enterprise Director Supportive Oncology at Jefferson Health.

The authors of the study assert that better health outcomes can be achieved for those with advanced cancer if health plans and providers work together to develop, adopt, and implement supportive oncology programs. There are many ways this could happen. There could be innovative payment models developed that reimburse for the full range of supportive oncology services, training, and education could be provided to clinicians on the benefits of this type of care, and/or supportive oncology programs could be integrated into existing cancer care pathways.

Media contact:
Ruth Stoolman
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