Because the majority of a cancer patient's journey takes place outside a clinic's four walls, we often lose the vital thread that links patients back to their care teams. We try to bridge this gap with phone-based triage lines and messages through patient portals, but these systems can cause frustrating delays leading to a lapse in care for patients and mild or moderate symptom concerns elevating to severe.

One challenge we as a society are grappling with is a growing divide between supply and demand. There is a critical shortage of oncologists and support staff, leading to considerable burnout among clinical team members. The situation is so dire, it’s projected nearly 800,000 nurses will leave the workforce over the next couple years. Oncologists are also facing intense pressure. In fact, 93% of them are working additional hours beyond their shifts to manage their caseloads. On the other side, patients are being diagnosed at younger ages while targeted and improved treatments are allowing patients to live longer and even reach remission more frequently. This is truly amazing and impactful for patients, but it does increase the total number of people that require treatment and supportive services.

The strain on our resources creates lapses in patient care. Patients seeking help after hours often encounter a triage system or voicemail, with the promise of a response that could take up to two days. This can increase patient anxiety. Mild and moderate symptoms may increase to severe if not treated, ultimately driving them to urgent care or the emergency department. We’re reliant upon this approach because there haven’t been many better options.

The second major challenge is the integration of new technologies. While innovations are being introduced, they often aren't user-friendly or readily adopted by patients who are unfamiliar with these systems. This can lead to a lack of trust, as patients struggle with unfamiliar apps, frequent version updates, and the hassle of remembering multiple passwords.

Reimagine Care is an on-demand cancer care provider that partners with health systems to become an extension of the cancer center and support patient needs beyond the walls of the clinic. Our proactive solution integrates an AI-enabled virtual assistant, the latest evidence-based care pathways, digital check-ins, education, and ePRO surveys with 24/7 patient access to clinical oncology experts digitally, virtually, and at home when needed.

Our program improves patient and caregiver experience, alleviates the strain on healthcare professionals, and enhances provider revenue opportunities through better capacity utilization and value-based care participation.

Our AI-enabled virtual assistant, Remi, is designed to provide continuous, proactive and reactive support to patients. It handles a variety of tasks, including symptom assessments, medication reminders, personalized educational content delivery, and much more, all via SMS text. By staying in touch with patients 24/7, Remi can quickly triage and identify when a patient may need clinical intervention, ensuring they receive timely care while avoiding unnecessary hospital visits. The combination of Remi and our virtual care team allows Reimagine Care to resolve roughly 90% of symptoms without escalation to the patient’s primary oncology team in the clinic.

Remi communicates through SMS text rather than an app because it's simpler and more accessible for everyone. This choice minimizes barriers to entry, allowing for broader adoption across age groups, ethnicities, and tech experience levels. Texting is a universally comfortable medium. Patients don't have to worry about passwords or app updates, and it works on any device, from flip phones to the latest smartphones.

The advancements in AI enable us to personalize interactions significantly. We leverage a robust data set from patients' EMRs and real-time information from their interactions with Remi and responses to electronic patient-reported outcome surveys. This data helps us build an evolving acuity model to anticipate patients' needs and provide timely, relevant support and educational material, enhancing the overall patient experience.

With Remi and our personalization engine as the foundation, we have built an in-house care management platform called the RC Assistant to bring everything together. This platform is effectively the nervous system of Reimagine Care, meaning it powers our clinical decision-making, escalations, patient follow-ups, and overall care model.

From my perspective, the shift towards an on-demand healthcare model is proving to be incredibly beneficial, notably enhancing the patient experience. What we're seeing is that patients are gaining quick, crucial answers when they need them, regardless of the time of day or where they are physically located. This isn't just about convenience; it's about effective care.

We meet patients in their moment of need, and we like to say that Reimagine Care is “doing the hard stuff.” For instance, consider a patient who undergoes chemotherapy and later faces severe pain or nausea in the early hours of the next morning. Previously, they'd be left waiting for a callback, or in severe distress, might rush to an emergency department. With on-demand services, these patients can immediately interact with a digital front door, Remi, and if necessary, quickly escalate into a real-time conversation with an oncology-trained nurse. I believe this immediate, on-demand support is the most crucial aspect of our evolved patient care approach.

Our Net Promoter Scores at Reimagine Care reflect this high level of patient satisfaction. But the advantages extend to healthcare providers as well. This model significantly improves existing workflows, freeing up oncology-trained nurses from triage phone lines, allowing them to focus on providing top-tier care in the clinic. Oncologists can go home with fewer concerns, knowing the majority of patient queries have been addressed efficiently through the blend of technology and service. The satisfaction scores from providers echo this positive sentiment, underlining an overall enhancement in experience for everyone involved.

We know each health system and cancer center is unique. During implementation, we really take the time to configure our program to fit within existing workflows, and specific escalation protocols that the physicians are used to and comfortable with. By the time we go live, our service is seamlessly integrated, functioning as an extension of the client's care team.

Our approach has been to implement white-label solutions to avoid introducing new, potentially confusing names to patients who are already dealing with enough uncertainty and anxiety. As a result, when we partner with health systems, the program has the look and feel of the existing cancer program, reinforcing the continuity of care and making it seem like an additional resource from their trusted oncologist.

Additionally, our service extends beyond just meeting patients in their homes and providing real-time answers — it's also about maintaining a cohesive medical record. We chart directly in our clients' electronic medical records (EMRs), ensuring a single source of truth for patient information without the need for cumbersome data exchanges. Throughout the implementation phase, we closely collaborate with our clients to grasp the nuances of their escalation pathways and the specific criteria that each oncologist considers critical for their patients.

Reimagine Care is unique because we support clients in both fee-for-service and value-based care models. For clients in a fee-for-service model, our solution enables them to manage a greater patient volume without increasing their existing resources, benefiting their current business model while also helping them address the supply and demand gap we discussed earlier.

Simultaneously, by driving specific outcomes such as reducing avoidable emergency department visits, supporting better treatment adherence, and intervening before conditions escalate, we facilitate aspects of value-based care. These improved outcomes align with the goals of value-based arrangements.

As the industry shifts, we’re positioned to help our clients navigate from fee-for-service to value-based care, ensuring a smooth transition and continued support regardless of the model they operate within.

I believe the future of cancer care must pivot towards more personalized treatment, with care plans and medications tailored specifically to each patient's unique circumstances. There's been remarkable progress over the past decade, yet there's still a long road ahead. Ideally, with a clear understanding of a patient's diagnosis, the medications they're on, their demographics, and family history, we could customize care to an unprecedented degree.

Supporting patients wherever they are is also crucial. Some innovative providers are already offering on-demand services, but these need to be more widely available. We should be able to extend this level of care to every patient, alongside all healthcare providers and caregivers involved. Additionally, the idea of delivering certain chemotherapy treatments at home, where it's safe and feasible, could greatly benefit patients and caregivers, and even reduce overall system costs.

Lastly, a transition to value-based cancer care is essential. Oncology may be lagging other healthcare sectors in this respect, but change is underway. Reimagine Care is leading this change by understanding the needs of all stakeholders to deliver the highest possible patient outcomes, wherever they are. This approach will be pivotal in propelling us toward a value-based care model in oncology.

In my opinion, it's all about choosing the right partners. While health systems and community practices do an incredible job caring for patients in person, creating technology-enabled, complex care solutions in-house is a massive undertaking. Sure, a few might pull it off, but for many, it means diverting precious resources like staff, time, budget dollars, and data.

The good news? There are already solutions out there ready to join forces and streamline this process, cutting down what would be years of work to just a few months. It's about finding those partners who truly have the best interests of our patients and providers at heart.

We also shouldn't be afraid to step on the gas a bit. The healthcare scene in the U.S. tends to err on the side of caution, taking measured steps forward. But I see a real chance here, in the coming years, to reinvent the way we deliver cancer care.

With the right solutions and partners, we can dare to move quicker than we've been accustomed to. This approach isn't just about keeping pace; it's about making a tangible, swift impact on the lives of patients and providers alike.

Reimagine Care is a technology-enabled service partnering with providers to support the needs of cancer patient beyond the walls of the clinic.

We believe people living with cancer deserve a better patient experience; to feel their best and to spend as much time as possible with the people they love, doing the things that bring them joy. We are a team of oncology experts singularly focused on solving the complex problems that plague the cancer journey for patients and providers.

Our proactive solution integrates an AI-enabled virtual assistant, the latest evidence-based care pathways, digital check-ins, education and ePRO surveys with 24/7 access to clinical oncology experts and the ability to deploy supportive care directly into patients’ homes.

Our vision and our approach fuel the delivery of high-quality, safe, home-centered, coordinated cancer care that makes care more patient-centric, accessible, affordable, and the first choice for patients everywhere.

Learn more about Reimagine Care

This article is sponsored by Reimagine Care, an Advisory Board member organization. Representatives of Reimagine Care helped select the topics and issues addressed. Advisory Board experts maintained final editorial approval, and conducted the underlying research independently and objectively. Advisory Board does not endorse any company, organization, product or brand mentioned herein.

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