Dr Song Park: Equitable Access Intertwined With User-Friendly Tech

At a recent Institute for Value-Based Medicine® event in Seattle, Washington, Song Park, MD, University of Washington Medicine, participated as the sole dermatologist for the panel discussion, "Best Practices in Skin Cancer Treatment: Navigating the Patient Journey." Experts discussed the intricacies of patient journeys following a skin cancer diagnosis, as well as spoke to current best practices in the field. Here, Park provides insights into how clinicians can be the best support system for their patients and the influence of value-based care for on the accessibility of treatments.

This transcript has been lightly edited.

Transcript

In value-based care models, how can health care providers best provide emotional and psychological support for patients with skin cancer while optimizing outcomes and resource allocation?

I believe that it is most important to provide very clear and concise information when they get the diagnosis: what's the prognosis and what's the treatment options, and what really is expected for the patients, and make it clear that we are available to answer any questions and then provide the right resources and then be there for them. I think, as a doctor or provider, that's the sort of best thing that we could do for a patient. And as an institute, we have a lot of support systems, like social workers or nursing support to help.

What role does value-based care play in addressing barriers to accessing timely and effective skin cancer treatment, and how can it help reduce disparities in care delivery?

Good question. As a dermatologist, I think there are 2 parts that we can really help with: Getting the diagnosis early enough when someone finds suspicious lesions, and then getting into the right treatment or right treatment team when they get the diagnosis.

So the first part, I feel like streamlining those referral pathways and then actively using teledermatology—in some institutes it's called E-consult—using high-resolution photos to be reviewed by a dermatologist or specialist so they can best try and see if it is concerning, that patient needs to be seen on earlier side, or if this is something that we cannot watch. So if one has that system, like teledermatology or E-consult, in their practice model, that really helps for people with some concerning skin lesions on their skin to get the diagnosis early or be reassured.

The second part, once one gets the diagnosis, and especially if it is aggressive or a more severe diagnosis or stage, getting them connected with the multidisciplinary team with the right specialties, that really helps with moving that care fast enough and getting the right amount of care.

Are there any challenges to ensuring these innovations remain accessible for different patient populations?

I think in the general population, particularly for rare cancer or those areas that are really evolving fast, it's hard [for anyone] to stay updated. So, increasing the awareness of what's new and those updated technologies, and then how others are using and sharing that as a professional society would help. And then as for patient barriers, I feel like these days, apart from the access there also technology considerations. It's not like rocket science technology, but our elderly patients, they are less familiar with using those IT devices or even computers, or even taking a photo of their lesion and uploading. They sometimes need help from other people, so making those easier to access and easier to use may actually help with patient care.