Cara Bohon, Co-Founder and Chief Clinical Officer at Protocol, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“For decades, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has set the gold standard for oncology best practices—and since 1997, that’s included guidelines for distress management. Screening became routine. Clinics readily administered distress thermometers and PHQ-9s. Important progress.
But screening alone wasn’t enough.
Despite 30-50% of oncology patients experiencing clinically significant anxiety or depression, fewer than 10% actually accessed treatment. Referrals went out. Patients waited months. And when care did happen, it was often fragmented and disconnected from the oncology team and the realities of cancer treatment.
That gap just got a lot smaller.
This year, the NCCN formally added the Collaborative Care Model to its distress management guidelines. That’s a big deal. It means screening leads to care, behavioral health is integrated into oncology workflows, and patients don’t fall through the cracks.
At Protocol Behavioral Health, we’re proud to be part of this shift—partnering with practices to make collaborative care truly seamless. Behavioral health shouldn’t be adjacent to cancer care. It should be part of the treatment protocol.”
More posts featuring National Comprehensive Cancer Network.