Exciting Changes and Achievements for Oncology Services
By Mikki Clancy, CISA, chief digital officer, Premier Health
The Premier Health Oncology Institute is excited about several initiatives that are improving cancer services, research, prevention, screening, and education.
In January 2021, Premier Health and MD Anderson Cancer Network® renewed their affiliation and began strategic visioning for the next three years. As we continue our vision of one Premier Health Cancer Services program, our relationship with MD Anderson is a foundational element as part of our quality program, an extension of care plan coordination through peer review, and offering new clinical trials. As we progress through the next few months, we will have site assessments that will open additional clinical trials to Premier Health patients. We would like to welcome Roger Wood, MD, a hematology/oncology physician with Dayton Physicians, who is joining the ranks of our 53 MD Anderson Certified physicians.
March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness month and Premier Health is offering additional opportunities for colon cancer education and screening. We will begin offering an additional option in early April for colon cancer screening through PolyMedCo FIT testing for patients unwilling to go through a colonoscopy screening. This will be offered through Premier Physician Network and CompuNet Clinical Laboratories to our patients as an additional screening option. Colonoscopy remains the gold standard for colon cancer screening and diagnostics. On March 31, we will offer a public virtual education session for colon cancer prevention, screening, genetics, and medical and surgical options for colon cancer treatment featuring James Ouellette, DO; Mark Marinella, MD; and Matthew Doepker, MD.
Our Cancer Prevention program continues to roll out through physician offices. Thus far we have screened more than 2,500 patients, with more than 50 patients being identified with cancer risk that required changes to their treatment plan to mitigate their risk including screening, vaccine, nutrition, education, monitoring, and education. If you have additional questions regarding this program, please reach out to Mikki Clancy or Emily Townsend.
Our Monarch® bronchoscopy robotics reached a milestone earlier this month with 50 patients who have received their lung biopsy. More than 63 percent were upper lobe lesions with an average size of 2.65 centimeters and about 38 percent required surgical intervention. We are very proud of the advancement of care for our patients with this new technology that was donated by the Miami Valley Hospital Foundation.
As always, if you have any questions about the exciting work happening in Premier Health Cancer Services, please reach out to Charles Bane, MD; Dr. Ouellette; Ryan Steinmetz, MD; or Mikki Clancy. We are open to any ideas to continue to grow oncology services in our community.
Back to the March 2021 issue of Premier Pulse
