Dr Kristine Slam: Value-Based Care in Breast Cancer Requires Collaboration

In this interview from our Institute for Value-Based Medicine^® event, held in partnership with the Zangmeister Cancer Center of Columbus, Ohio, on September 14, Kristine Slam, MD, FACP, breast cancer surgeon and partner at Central Ohio Surgical Associates, discusses the benefits of value-based care in the breast cancer space.

Transcript

Can you discuss the importance of investigating patient costs from breast cancer?

Breast cancer is actually the most expensive cancer that we treat in America. And as a breast cancer surgeon, I'm a fixer. I like to surgically resect tumors, and we fix the problem pretty quickly. So, one of the struggles that my patients have is cost of care, financial toxicity. I became very interested in this a couple years ago, because as a fixer, that is something we cannot quickly fix.

How does implementation of a value-based care model improve the quality of breast cancer treatments and patient outcomes?

A value-based care model, what it does is it really brings the patient forefront and center; it requires a collaborative approach. In the breast cancer world, this is typically done through a multidisciplinary tumor board. What we're looking at is specifically tailoring the therapy to the patient, appropriate care, appropriate surgery, [and] de-escalation of therapy when possible, which also eliminates both short-term and long-term side effects and financial repercussions.