ASCO’s Game-Changing initiatieven om een verschil te maken in kankerzorg | ASCO Connection
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ASCO has become a major player in global health in all levels. Oncologists, and their patients, in high-, middle-, and low-income countries all look to ASCO for resource-appropriate guidelines, for a venue to learn about or present the most recent research results, and so many other things that we can provide. Although we’re branded as the American Society of Clinical Oncology, we are truly an international organization.
We will continue and improve upon our efforts to support our members in community practice. We are already expanding ASCO’s engagement with its State Affiliate Societies in addressing issues critical to our members in practice. Guidelines, pathways, payment reform, MACRA, oral parity, part B, drug costs, #Value Framework—all terms that none of us learned in medical school, but if we don’t get them right, we’ll forfeit access to care for those who depend on us to make them better. Frankly, these issues affect not just community practice but all of us who see and care for patients with cancer. If regulatory or reimbursement hurdles prevent our patients from receiving life-saving cancer therapy, they won’t get better.
I’ve said before that ASCO is a big tent. How can we make the tent bigger? I have just finished appointing volunteers to ASCO committees. More than 2,000 of you applied online or directly to me, but I only had 250 slots to fill. This is an unacceptable circumstance, and I apologize if you were not chosen. Our new ASCO CEO, Cliff Hudis, and I have already begun to brainstorm ways that we can harness this incredible energy to contribute to the Society – taking advantage of our membership’s willingness to participate in ASCO activities in the United States and around the world. Please remain enthusiastic in your desire to help ASCO—there is more to come on this issue.
ASCO’s association with the College of American Pathologists (CAP) regarding tumor biomarker tests in breast, colon, and other cancers has been enormously successful. Working with the ASCO International Affairs Department, we are extending that collaboration to address analytical issues related to precision medicine and genomically driven therapies. ASCO and CAP have also partnered to reach out to the global health community to provide teaching, educational resources, and accreditation in oncology pathology to low-income countries. I’d love to see us bring other diagnostic societies into the tent, so we’re all speaking the same language and applying evidence-based medicine to our patients in the best manner possible.
Last week, at the ASCO Annual Meeting, I introduced the theme for my term as ASCO President: “ASCO: Making a Difference in Cancer Care With You.” Together, we’ll be making a difference for our patients and in our profession with the help of some game-changing initiatives from ASCO. I believe these will not only positively affect cancer patients in the U.S, but around the world. I would like to take this opportunity to describe just a few.
Curated from ASCO’s Game-Changing Initiatives to Make a Difference in Cancer Care | ASCO Connection