August 23, 2022 – The Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) announced today that Baptist Health’s Miami Cancer Institute a recipient of a 2022 ACCC Innovator Award. The award recognizes Miami Cancer Institute’s use of technology to improve patient oral oncolytic consent compliance.
It’s common for cancer programs and practices to struggle with timely treatment education, consent gathering, and adherence tracking, especially when an oral oncolytic is prescribed. These challenges are due in part to older solutions that are no longer benefiting all patients equally. Problems like this have persisted in oncology despite healthcare’s fast-paced innovations and there is no one-size-fits-all fix.
To meet the needs of the cancer care team and their patients, Miami Cancer Institute leadership knew that a same-day solution was needed, and technology was the answer. The team turned to technology-based solutions that were already in use by Baptist Health South Florida at large, a technology already familiar to nurses and patients who had previously been a patient with the system.
For example, Access Passport and DocuSign were implemented in the oncology service line to complete patient consent—the first for in-person appointments and the latter for the virtual setting. Therefore, Miami Cancer Institute staff are providing high-quality cancer care without having to dip deeper into their operating budget.
Dr. Mark Davis, COO of Baptist Health’s Miami Cancer Institute
“We are dedicated to continuing to serve our community and those who travel to our facility, with the highest level of quality cancer care. The pandemic has allowed us the opportunity to rethink our innovative approach to care and we are deeply humbled to be recognized by the ACCC”, shared Dr. Mark Davis, COO of Baptist Health’s Miami Cancer Institute.
“There was always the danger that the patient would take that paper prescription, go fill it at their specialty pharmacy, get that medication delivered, and start taking it beforehand,” said Morgan Nestigen, director of intake and navigation at Miami Cancer Institute. “For us, the opportunity was to do these steps all in real time without any additional support.”
Nestigen will speak at the ACCC 39th National Oncology Conference about the successes and challenges she and her team experienced with identifying and implementing technology to address treatment education, consent gathering, and adherence tracking within their oral oncolytic workflow, including how optimizing these tasks have led to an improved patient experience and employee satisfaction. Learn more about this innovation on the ACCCBuzz blog and CANCER BUZZ podcast, then register to attend the ACCC National Oncology Conference this October 12-14th in West Palm Beach, Fla.
About the ACCC Innovator Awards
The ACCC Innovator Awards spotlight forward-thinking ACCC Member Programs that have developed and implemented creative and cost-effective solutions to deliver patient-centered care. ACCC has recognized five winners this year, including Baptist Health South Florida, Miami Cancer Institute, who are solving problems ranging from oral oncolytic tracking and improving treatment adherence to expansion of the multidisciplinary cancer care team to include primary care providers.
ACCC Innovator Award winners demonstrate the ability to advance the goals of improving access, quality, and value in cancer care delivery, while also providing replicable solutions for other cancer programs and practices.
About the Association of Community Cancer Centers
The Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) is the leading education and advocacy organization for the cancer care community. Founded in 1974, ACCC is a powerful network of 30,000 multidisciplinary practitioners from 1,700 hospitals and practices nationwide. As advances in cancer screening and diagnosis, treatment options, and care delivery models continue to evolve – so has ACCC – adapting its resources to meet the changing needs of the entire oncology care team. For more information, visit accc-cancer.org. Follow us on social media; read our blog, ACCCBuzz; tune in to our CANCER BUZZ podcast; and view our CANCER BUZZ TV channel.
About Miami Cancer Institute
Miami Cancer Institute brings to South Florida access to personalized clinical treatments and comprehensive support services delivered with unparalleled compassion. No other cancer program in the region has the combination of cancer-fighting expertise and advanced technology—including the first proton therapy center in South Florida, Latin America and the Caribbean, and one of the only radiation oncology programs in the world with each of the newest radiation therapies in one place—to diagnose and deliver precise cancer treatments that achieve the best outcomes and improve the lives of cancer patients. The Institute offers an impressive roster of established community oncologists and renowned experts, clinical researchers and genomic scientists recruited from the nation’s top cancer centers. Selected as Florida’s only member of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer (MSK) Alliance, Miami Cancer Institute is part of a meaningful clinical collaboration that affords patients in South Florida access to innovative treatments and ensures that the standards of care developed by their multidisciplinary disease management teams match those at MSK.
Miami Cancer Institute is part of Baptist Health South Florida, the largest healthcare organization in the region, with 12 hospitals, more than 24,000 employees, 4,000 physicians and 100 outpatient centers, urgent care facilities and physician practices spanning across Miami-Dade, Monroe, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Baptist Health has internationally renowned centers of excellence in cancer, cardiovascular care, orthopedics and sports medicine, and neurosciences. In addition, it includes Baptist Health Medical Group; Baptist Health Quality Network; and Baptist Health Care On Demand, a virtual health platform. A not-for-profit organization supported by philanthropy and committed to its faith-based charitable mission of medical excellence, Baptist Health has been recognized by Fortune as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America and by Ethisphere as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies.
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