From The Editor

TON January 2016 Vol 9 No 1
Beth Faiman, PhD, APRN-BC, AOCN
Founding Editor in Chief

 

The featured cancer profile in this issue of The Oncology Nurse-APN/PA (TON) is CancerCare, a not-for-profit organization that was founded in 1944 providing individual counseling, support groups, as well as workshops in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

In addition, we feature a patient voice article about Jamie Holloway, breast cancer researcher, turned stay-at-home mom turned breast cancer survivor. "It's been very heartening for me-to think that my story could be hopeful or helpful for anyone else," she told TON.

As part of our conference highlights, we cover the latest news from the 2015 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology as well as the 2015 Breast Cancer Symposium. We report on information about how teamwork improves palliative care, saves money, as well as patients living with long-term metastatic disease. In addition, we discuss how an APN-led clinic improves outcomes and lowers costs in patients with head and neck cancer, as well as the ongoing process of coping with body image for patients and providers.

"There is a shortage of palliative care specialists in the [United States], so we needed to innovate and collaborate," Paul W. Read, MD, PhD, Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, explained in his presentation at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology. "Our solution is collaborative care, with 3 programs to target patients with the highest symptom burdens."

We also discuss the role of the oncology medical home and how it leads to significant cost-savings and improved care delivery. The COME HOME initiative includes a 7-member oncology medical home practice partnership has documented significant reductions in hospitalization rates, inpatient days. They also report total costs of care of approximately $5 million over a 6-month period

As always, we hope you will enjoy this issue of TON. We want to hear about your ideas and opinions. Please be sure to visit our website, www.TheOncologyNurse.com, and tell us what topics you want to see included in each issue. We love to hear from you and we appreciate your feedback.

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