Color Health has officially announced the expansion of what is being touted as nation’s first fully integrated virtual cancer clinic.
According to certain reports, the states expansion will see Color integrating new clinical and support capabilities into the leading cancer program for employers, unions, and health plans to support individuals at every stage of their cancer journey, covering everything from early detection and diagnosis to treatment and survivorship.
Talk about what all is included in this expanded virtual clinic, we begin from the promise of direct cancer treatment management and navigation, a promise where one expanded team of physicians, nurses, and other health practitioners within Color’s affiliated 50-state medical group is available to provide 24/7 oncologist-led care for any type of cancer diagnosis. This way the offering is able to ensure that patients receive consistent and high-quality care throughout diagnosis and treatment, no matter their location. Among the more specific services that are in play here, we have diagnostic workups, treatment protocol reviews, and proactive symptom and medication management, with expert consultations from a network of clinicians from NCI-designated cancer centers, including Lidia Schapira, MD, Stanford Health Care and Elizabeth Etkin-Kramer, MD, Mt. Sinai Medical Center.
“At Color, we recognize that cancer is more than chemotherapy, it is more than radiation. Cancer impacts every aspect of patients’ lives – interpersonal relationships, finances, mental health, work, burden on friends and family, and so much more. If we don’t start treating cancer for everything that it is – all encompassing – the U.S. will continue to see rising costs, rising rates of late-stage cancer diagnoses, and unfortunately, an increase in mortality rates,” said Dr. Rebecca Miksad, Chief Medical Officer of Color Health.
Next up, there is the prospect of financial hardship avoidance. This particular prospect happens to be rooted in a purpose-built financial hardship program, which includes Color’s new Care Wallet to reduce the burden of out-of-pocket expenses on employees and members. You see, with the given Care Wallet, employees can be reimbursed for cancer-related expenses through a first-of-its-kind, cancer-dedicated Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) funded by employers. The significance of such a development can also be understood once you take into account how an estimated 58% of survivors face long-term financial strain, whereas nearly 40% exhaust their savings within two years of diagnosis.
Another detail worth a mention here stems from Color virtual clinic’s expert survivorship clinical management & ongoing career success. Designed to manage the gaps between oncology and primary care, this happens to be the first virtual care program modeled after survivorship clinics at Centers of Excellence which takes on care management for patients finishing treatment. Beyond this, the program is well-equipped to address return-to-work and career success on an ongoing basis, including direct support for managers and benefits teams that are there to support employees who are navigating post-treatment work and life.
Rounding up highlights would be the virtual clinic’s nutritional & physical health program, which is specifically conceived to help cancer patients and survivors live healthier lives during and after treatment, led by registered dietitians. The program also packs together education on ways to optimize physical activity, healthy eating and personalized nutrition plans, and ongoing opportunities to connect with peers going through similar experiences.
“What Color offers is a dream come true for primary care physicians, patients, families, and employers when it comes to cancer care, filling in gaps when and where patients and clinicians encounter them,” said Dr. Gretchen Mockler, Primary Care Physician, Weill Cornell Medicine. “Color allows us, as primary care physicians, to operate at the top of our license while also ensuring our patients are up-to-date on necessary screenings and getting the answers they need between visits.”
Making this development all the more important, though, is a piece of data which claims that earlier intervention and active guidelines-based patient care can decrease costs by $63K in the first year of treatment, with 5-year survival rate also increasing by up to 140%.
