9 DECEMBER 2025beyond oncology, with rheumatology likely the next space to offer commercial therapy. It's important to understand that onboarding these therapies is different than adding conventional drugs to a formulary. Given the high cost (and risk) of delivering this type of care, we put together an initial proforma that includes such things as payer mix, cost of the therapy, typical site of care for infusion, and indirect/direct costs associated with delivering care. Real-world clinical considerations continue to be key as well: patient criteria, length of stay, onset of toxicities, response, and durability will guide physicians when making treatment decisions. The combination of clinical and financial data guides our program to make good decisions that balances all stakeholders when delivering this type of care.BREAKING SILOS WITH END-TO-END MAPPINGIn short, take those things that are siloed and bring them into the light. As an engineer, my goal has always been to take something complicated and make it simple. When we onboard a new therapy, we put together a workflow process map of the entire episode of care. The map incorporates clinical, financial, and operational decision points that allow us to mitigate the risk in delivering this type of care. We pull in all stakeholders that will "touch" a patient throughout their journey and layout their responsibilities on the map. This creates a living document that allows the program to share our plan with senior leadership about administering expensive therapies. Additionally, it serves as the blueprint that we use when talking with IT/IS about the need for additional functionality in the EMR. This type of framework has allowed our program to successfully launch CAR T programs in our community hospitals, where they have had no prior experience with cellular therapies. Additionally, we've been able to reduce the onboarding time substantially when following this type of model.BALANCING PATIENT CARE AND PROGRAM VIABILITYThe mission of CCTT is to deliver good care to patients, but when you consider the cost of delivering this type of care, emerging leaders need to understand that it is also equally important to balance the needs of the patient against the needs of the program/health system. Build a comprehensive game plan that allows all stakeholders to participate in the onboarding/administering of a new therapy. Use data as the foundation for both clinical and business decision-making. Empower your team to learn everything about the clinical, financial, and operational nuances of therapy. Lastly, and most importantly, be compassionate. Every patient that presents will have a different dynamic; it's our job to figure out how to get them in a position to be treated. That is why we do what we do. USE DATA AS THE FOUNDATION FOR BOTH CLINICAL AND BUSINESS DECISION MAKING.
< Page 8 | Page 10 >