ACCC Meets in Capital's Shadow Amid Changing Times

Planners of this week’s meeting of Association of Cancer Care Centers (ACCC) knew what they were doing when they selected Nick Webb, author of the book Chaotic Change: Embracing Chaos to Drive Innovation and Growth, to kick off the 51st Annual Meeting & Cancer Center Business Summit, which runs Wednesday through Friday.

Nadine Barrett, PhD, MS, MPH, FACCC | Image: Wake Forest

Held each year in the nation’s capital, attendees will be within walking distance of the White House as they arrive at the Capital Hilton tonight, just as President Donald J. Trump gets ready for the first State of the Union address of his second term; the meeting will conclude midday Friday as the “Stand Up for Science” rally forms nearby on the National Mall.

After 6 weeks of upheaval at the agencies most connected to cancer care, ACCC members will bring many concerns to members of Congress when they make their annual visit to Capitol Hill Wednesday morning. ACCC’s longtime commitment to improving health equity and diversity in clinical trials is directly affected by the Trump executive order rolling back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

The honoree for the ACCC clinical research award, Mandi-Pratt Chapman, PhD, was featured in Science following a loss of funding from the National Institutes of Health due to the DEI order. Pratt-Chapman, who is the associate center director, Patient-Centered Initiatives and Health Equity at GW Cancer Center, is well-known for her work on appropriate ways to collect information on sexual orientation and gender identity of cancer patients.

Wednesday’s poster presentations will include 3 projects related to addressing disparities and improving clinical trial inclusivity:

• Early Findings from a National Quality Improvement Program to Address Disparities in Bladder Cancer Care
• Enhancing inclusivity in oncology clinical trials: Key Strategies from the ACORI Community Oncology Inclusive Clinical Trial Design Summit
• Strategies to Increase Enrollment of Diverse Populations in Oncology Clinical Trials.

At its opening reception, ACCC will honor longtime Executive Director Christian Downs, JD, MHA, who is now a senior consultant, with its annual achievement award.

Thursday’s sessions kick off with a question and answer session with ACCC President Nadine Barrett, PhD, MS, MPH, FACCC, who is senior associate dean, Community Engagement and Equity in Research at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Atrium Health. Joining Barrett will be Robin Zon, MD, FASCO, FACP, president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and physician emeritus, Michiana Hematology Oncology.

ACCC is structured around “deep dives” which are 2-hour intensives on the meeting’s core topics of technology, business, and policy. Thursday’s deep dives include sessions on artificial intelligence to streamline processes and increase clinical trial enrollment, using technology to manage workflow in radiation oncology, and use of various types of virtual visits with to increase access, speed referrals, and boost revenue. Payer issues are featured in an afternoon deep dive that will examine payer contract intelligence, creating a prior authorization team, and using providers as boots on the ground to change policy at the state level.

Other deep dives include sessions on community engagement, improving clinical trials, and implementing new technology. Thursday’s schedule also includes a policy update with an HHS official, but thus far the department has not sent promised representatives to other health care conferences since Trump took office. On Friday, cancer center leaders will offer firsthand accounts of growth strategies in their respective markets; the meeting will conclude with a session on the growth of women’s health and oncology.