Matt Sherer, Director of Oncology Service Line at UMC Health System, shared on LinkedIn:
“Rural oncology access is not solved by good intentions. It is solved through deliberate network design.
For years, the debate was centralize or localize. That framing misses the point. A patient two hours from the nearest infusion chair does not care where the decision was made. They care whether they can start treatment this week.
The systems that get this right build a hub for complex care and push what they safely can toward the patient: labs, imaging, follow-up visits, some infusions under shared protocols. The hub keeps the multidisciplinary planning. The spokes keep the patient close to home. One record, one plan, one team.
If you run a regional program, map your patients by drive time before you map them by service line. The geography will tell you where your access is really breaking.”
Other articles featuring Matt Sherer on OncoDaily.