Collaborating for Cancer Care Equity: Community and Academic Insights

Experts from top cancer centers and venture capital gathered to share their thoughts and experiences on the theme “Enhancing Community Cancer Programs With Academic Excellence Through Strategic Partnerships” during the October 17, 2024, Institute for Value-Based Medicine® event held by The American Journal of Managed Care in partnership with NYU Langone Health.

Their data-driven discussions examined how to bridge the chasm between community-led cancer care and research that seeks to optimize patient outcomes and strengthen program support Emeline Aviki, MD, MBA, FACOG, medical director of network integration and strategy for NYU Langone Health Perlmutter Cancer Center, cochaired the meeting with Oscar B. Lahoud, MD, section chief of hematology at NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn and director for strategy and network operations in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at Perlmutter Cancer Center. Featured panelists were:

• Samyukta Mullangi, MD, MBA, medical director of oncology of Thyme Care and medical oncologist at Tennessee Oncology in Nashville;
• Mario Lacouture, MD, chief of the Division of Dermatology at NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine, and medical director of the Symptom Management Program at Perlmutter Cancer Center of NYU Langone Hospital–Long Island; and
• Brita Roy, MD, MPH, clinical associate professor of population health and director of Community Health and Clinical Outcomes at NYU Langone Health.

Their presentations emphasized how policies and political decisions help to shape cancer care, especially in community settings that often face financial and regulatory challenges. The academic-community partnerships at the center of these talks offer transformative initiatives; the speakers discussed multidisciplinary collaboration, data sharing, and patient support that focused on addressing social determinants of health and improving health equity through equitable access, clinical trial diversity, and technology.

“There’s just no question that delivering care closer to home has tremendous benefits. The obstacle is, how do you do that in a way that ensures the highest level of quality and a consistent level of quality across very diverse settings?” Aviki said. “What are the different ways that you can navigate these diverse settings to ensure that patients are receiving the same world-class quality of care no matter where they’re being treated?”