Michelle Kirschner: A crucial first step in making the invisible visible

Michelle Kirschner shared on LinkedIn:

“I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Brianna Abbott and Peter Loftus for their insightful article published on Friday in the Wall Street Journal. As a clinician providing survivorship care, I often witness the cancer-related distress caused by healthcare systems that provide treatment but fail to address the quality of life and practical impacts of treatment-related effects.

This chronic exposure to our patients’ distress, coupled with the inability to change the system, often leads to moral distress and burnout among healthcare providers in my specialty.

Your article is a crucial first step in making the invisible visible. You have highlighted some of the central issues that need to be addressed. In my work, I advise cancer programs to understand ‘what matters’ to our cancer survivors and their care partners to prioritize efforts in creating supportive care interventions. Unfortunately, through my national work, I have come to understand that there is a lack of ROI or business case for this type of care.

As noted in this piece, the intertwining of financial and work-related barriers is a central pain point for cancer survivors. Until systems take the time to understand the inputs for poor outcomes and proactively create ‘precision supportive care’ pathways, individuals will continue to face financial and mental health consequences.

There needs to be a national Call to Action around this work, inclusive of all who want to be involved. I often find individuals striving to create solutions are forgotten and not invited to projects because they are not affiliated with an academic center or larger cancer-focused organizations. I’m interested in providing a pathway so all individuals can have their voice heard.

I’m proud that the Cancer Survivorship Provider Network has created the structure for this important work, and we are eager to partner with agencies like the American Cancer Society, CancerX Moonshot and Cancer Moonshot. Look for our upcoming announcement about our new working group focused on the ROI and business case for oncology supportive care.

This deep dive will develop both Value-Based and Fee-for-Service models. Please DM me or Patricia Falconer for more information.”

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Source: Michelle Kirschner/LinkedIn

Michelle Kirschner is the Clinical Lead and Medical Advisory Board Chairman at OneVillage. She also serves as the Director of Program Development at The Cancer Survivorship Provider Network. She specializes in cancer rehabilitation and is developing cardio-oncology programs and advanced cognitive assessments. Kirschner also speaks to healthcare practitioners and cancer support communities on survivorship care plans and fatigue treatment.