Technology Is on Tap at ACCC National Oncology Conference

Technology offers opportunities across cancer care—from diagnostics to precision medicine to better workforce management—and those who attend this week’s 39th National Oncology Conference of the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) will get to see, hear, and experience the next wave of solutions, when the meeting comes to West Palm Beach, Florida. The conference is taking place Wednesday through Friday at the Palm Beach Convention Center.

“Deconstructing Innovation” is the theme of this year’s meeting, which features preconference sessions on Wednesday ahead of the main conference. The sessions align with the yearlong theme selected by this year’s ACCC president, David R. Penberthy, MD, MBA, when he took the helm in March: “Leveraging Technology to Transform Cancer Care Delivery and the Patient Experience.”

For the first of Wednesday’s preconference sessions, Penberthy will team with his brother, Scott Penberthy, director of Applied AI at Google. Scott Penberthy, whose role centers on the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and information retrieval in health care at Google Cloud, will present, “The Age of Phenomics,” which is described as the “data-driven evolution of genomics that reasons about wellness transitions and their reversal from first principles.”

The main conference kicks off Thursday with keynote speaker Julie Holmes, a product and app inventor whose talk on technology and innovation is titled, “Little Big Bangs: Innovate and Improve in Challenging Times.” Holmes’ theme for the community oncology audience: improvements through micro-innovations, or everyday improvements, can add up to larger results that improve the lives of patients.

Friday’s featured speakers will discuss using data to mobilize the workforce and improve population health. They are Erica DeBoer, RN, MA, CCRN-K, CNL, chief nursing officer for Sanford Health, and Mike Koroscik, vice president, Oncology, for Allina Health Cancer Institute.

Thursday’s agenda offers shorter talks from winners of ACCC’s Innovator Awards, which recognize replicable programs that improve outcomes are cost-effective. Highlights from these programs include:

• Zoe Larned, MD, system chair, Hematology and Oncology, Ochsner Cancer Institute, Ochsner Health, presenting, “Chemotherapy Care Companion: Improving Outcomes Through Digital Medicine.”
• Debra Delaney, MSN, FNP-BC, Helen F. Graham Cancer Center & Research Institute, ChristianaCare, presenting, “A Model for Embedding Primary Care in Oncology.
• Morgan Nestingen, MSN, APRN, AGCNS-BC, NEA-BC, OCN, ONN-CG, director of Nursing, Patient Intake and Navigation Services, Miami Cancer Institute, Baptist Health, presenting, “Deploying Technology Across an Interdisciplinary Team to Improve Oral Oncolytic Compliance.”

Friday’s morning agenda follows the themes of the featured speakers, including talks that that address today’s workforce challenges:

• Two speakers from ECG Management Consultants—Stephanie Hobbs, MHSM, CMPE, associate principal, and Meaghan O’Neill, senior manager—will discuss, “Navigating the Great Resignation: Rebuilding the Oncology Workforce and Creating Sustainability for the Future.”
• City of Hope’s Pharmacy Enterprisespeakers, Sepideh Shayani, PharmD, BCOP, executive director, and Wafa Samara, PharmD, chief pharmacy officer, will address, “Enhancing the Role of the Pharmacist to Improve Career Satisfaction.”

On both days of the main conference, the afternoons offer extended interactive workshops, which are designed to help care teams streamline processes and build positive change in the workplace. Most workshops are offered both days; they are:

• Building Sustainable Coalitions in Your Community
• Understanding Implicit Bias in Oncology
• Finding Joy and Improving Self-Care
• Best Community Cancer Care
• ACCC Alternative Payment Model Coalition: the Economics of Value-Based Care and Strategies to Bend the Cost Curve