UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center Magazine Spring 2017 | Page 27
RESE ARCH BRIEFS
UAB Receives $16-Million Grant to Reduce Cancer Disparities
PATIENT AND
FAMILY RESOURCE
CENTER
The UAB Comprehensive
Cancer Center’s Patient
& Family Resource Center
provides a comfortable
place to find support. If you
or a loved one has been
diagnosed with cancer,
our staff can answer your
questions about the illness,
treatment options and
available support services.
UAB has received a five-year, $16.6-million renewal grant from the National Cancer
Institute for the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, Morehouse School of Medicine and
Tuskegee University partnership to address cancer disparities among African-Americans.
This tripartite research effort, initially funded by NCI as a cooperative grant in 2006,
pairs federally designated comprehensive cancer centers such as the UAB Comprehensive
Cancer Center with institutions of higher learning that historically serve minorities. The
collaboration between MSM, TU and the UAB Cancer Center is especially relevant since
Georgia and Alabama have high cancer mortality rates.
The Cancer Center has a long history as a leader in community outreach, most notably
for its work in increasing education and awareness of cancer in minority and underserved
populations. “With this competitive renewal, the Partnership will continue to bring the
benefits of advances in cancer research to disadvantaged regional patient populations,
influencing their lives for decades to come,” says Upender Manne, Ph.D., lead principal
investigator.
Partnership activities include bench- and community-level cancer research with a
goal of understanding the causes for cancer disparities, as well as education and training
programs that encourage students, fellows and junior faculty to pursue studies in
biomedical sciences.
This can include:
n Cancer Prevention
n Dealing with Side Effects
n Clinical Trials
n Complementary Therapies
Lay Navigation Demonstrates Savings
n Stress Management
n Spirituality
A recent UAB study shows that when older
cancer patients were paired with trained nonmedical
professionals in the form of “lay navigators,” there was
significant decline in health care resource utilization
and Medicare costs, providing an innovative model in
transitioning to value-based health care on a national
scale.
The study, published in JAMA Oncology, zeroes in on
the influence of lay navigation on Medicare spending
and resource use, such as emergency room visits,
hospitalizations, intensive care admissions and chemotherapy in the last two weeks of life,
to determine the financial implications on the health care system.
Over a three-year period, the observational study examined 12,428 geriatric patients,
age 65 and older, enrolled in the Patient Care Connect Program through the UAB Health
System Cancer Community Network. Comparisons and differences were analyzed between
6,214 navigated and 6,214 non-navigated patients.
The study found total costs declined by $781.29 more per quarter per navigated patient
for an estimated $19 million decline per year across the network. Inpatient and outpatient
costs had the largest decline with $294 and $275, respectively, per patient per quarter.
Emergency room visits, hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions decreased per
quarter by 6 percent, 7.9 percent and 10.6 percent, respectively.
# K N O W U A B C C C
n Support Groups & One-
on-One Support
n Mindful Meditation
n Restorative Yoga
n Art Therapy
PATIENT & FAMILY
RESOURCE CENTER
Wallace Tumor Institute,
Room 220
For more information, contact
Teri Hoenemeyer,
(205) 934-5772
[email protected]
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