Jeffery Ward’s story illustrates a growing problem for cancer care in the United States, according to the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s inaugural report, “The State of Cancer Care in America,” which was released Tuesday.
Nearly two-thirds of the small oncology practices surveyed said they were likely to merge, sell or close in the upcoming year. And as community practices disappear, patients are paying more and traveling farther for quality care, an issue compounded by physician shortages and a rapidly aging population.
“If you can’t get care, you can’t get good care,” said American Society of Clinical Oncology President Dr. Clifford Hudis, chief of Breast Cancer Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and a professor at Weill Cornell Medical College.
Read it all.
(CNN) Future cancer patients may struggle for quality care
Jeffery Ward’s story illustrates a growing problem for cancer care in the United States, according to the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s inaugural report, “The State of Cancer Care in America,” which was released Tuesday.
Nearly two-thirds of the small oncology practices surveyed said they were likely to merge, sell or close in the upcoming year. And as community practices disappear, patients are paying more and traveling farther for quality care, an issue compounded by physician shortages and a rapidly aging population.
“If you can’t get care, you can’t get good care,” said American Society of Clinical Oncology President Dr. Clifford Hudis, chief of Breast Cancer Medicine Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and a professor at Weill Cornell Medical College.
Read it all.