Access to patient assistance programs for rural cancer patients in an NCI designated comprehensive cancer center: A retrospective cohort study.

Authors

Patricia Falconer

Patricia P. Falconer

Health Options LLC, Los Altos, CA

Patricia P. Falconer , Laila Craveiro , John Kusluch

Organizations

Health Options LLC, Los Altos, CA, Oregon Health & Science University Knight Cancer Institute, Portland, OR

Research Funding

No funding received

Background: 35% of Oregon’s and 14% of Washington’s populations live in rural/frontier communities. These populations often experience a higher incidence of cancer disparities across the care continuum and a disproportionate burden of the high costs associated with cancer care compared to urban populations. Methods: The Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Knight Cancer Institute (KCI) operates a multidisciplinary cancer program catering to Oregon and Southwest Washington from its Portland-based campuses. OHSU launched an enterprise Patient Assistance (PA) program partnership with Atlas Health which included an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered platform integrated with the electronic health record and 4 Patient Advocates who enrolled patients into matched PA programs. Rural patients receiving intravenous (IV) infusion therapy who benefited from PA programs were compared to the overall treated population at OHSU infusion centers to determine if rural patients who are at high risk for financial toxicity were identified and provided an effective intervention. Patient zip codes were used to designate residence in urban or rural/frontier counties. Results: A retrospective analysis reviewed unique patients treated in the OHSU KCI infusion centers, PA Enrolled, and PA Awarded patient cohorts. Conclusions: The Enterprise PA program partnership notably and proportionately benefited rural communities who are at high risk for financial toxicity and experience significant cost barriers to care. OHSU collected over 599,000 which reduced the risk of bad debt for the institution and cancer related medical debt for patients. Average PA award of 1,426 was significant due to 40% of Americans cannot afford a 1,000 emergency or unexpected medical bill. This underscores that an enterprise PA program may be considered a care delivery intervention to decrease health disparities. Further study is needed to determine if increasing rural cancer patients’ access to PA programs helps improve clinical access and treatment outcomes across the spectrum of cancer care services.

Patient cohort comparison 12/15/2023-3/31/2024.

Patient CohortOHSU Infusion Center CohortPatient Assistance Enrolled CohortPatient Assistance Awarded Cohort
Total Number of Patients9,197554420
Total Number of Patients Residing in Oregon and Washington9,064552418
Total Number of Patients Residing in Oregon and Washington Rural Counties1,668117122
Percentage Rural Patients18%21%29%
Drug Manufacturer Co-Pay Programs-$ 590,785.70$ 459,095.08
Charitable Co-Pay Assistance Programs-$ 96,024.70$ 139,981.33
Total-$ 686,810.40$ 599,076.41
Average Expected/Received Award Per Patient-$ 1,239.73$ 1,426.37

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Abstract Details

Meeting

2024 ASCO Quality Care Symposium

Session Type

Poster Session

Session Title

Poster Session B

Track

Health Care Access, Equity, and Disparities,Technology and Innovation in Quality of Care,Survivorship

Sub Track

Access to Treatment

Citation

JCO Oncol Pract 20, 2024 (suppl 10; abstr 94)

DOI

10.1200/OP.2024.20.10_suppl.94

Abstract #

94

Poster Bd #

B18

Abstract Disclosures

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