The Tumor Site Strategy Toolkit

Measure your market opportunity

Review The Eight-Step Oncology Market Assessment for step-by-step guidance on how to use our market forecasting tools to conduct a market assessment at the tumor site level, or jump right into the tools:

• Use the Cancer Incidence Estimator to generate current and projected cancer incidence estimates by tumor site for any geographic region within the United States.
• Use the Oncology Market Estimator to get current estimates and projected utilization numbers for inpatient and outpatient oncology services in your state, county, or zip code.
• The Oncology Medicare Market Explorer provides a comprehensive view into selected providers' share of the Medicare market.

Translate data into program priorities

Review our best practice resources to learn different ways you can deepen your analysis and identify your best tumor site opportunities given market attractiveness, growth, profitability, alignment with mission and values, and strategic fit.

• Market Opportunity Assessment
• Benchmark-Driven Opportunity Assessment
• Critical Assessment Playbook
• Market Opportunity Matrix
• Tumor Site Gap Analysis
• Expected Value Analysis in Oncology Revenue Strategy
• Registry-Based Outmigration Assessment

Tap into best practices for program planning

Start off on the right foot by reading Chapter 2 of our study, Next-Generation Tumor Site Strategy, to learn how to conduct a Tiered Program Resource Assessment and key elements of tumor site program organizational structure.

Review the Oncology Roundtable’s Tumor Site Program Resource Grids, which expand upon the Tiered Program Resource Assessment and outline elements of basic, intermediate, and advanced tumor site programs for breast, lung, colorectal, prostate, gynecologic, head and neck, neurologic, and skin cancers.

Incorporate patient preferences

Use the interactive Cancer Patient Survey Results Portal to understand which services matter most to patients by tumor site.

Develop the right support services

Ideally, patients of all tumor types have access to a comprehensive set of support services. When it comes to tumor site program planning and development, three are especially critical:

1. Patient navigation program: Make the most out of your navigation program by following these six steps to define your navigator role, coordinate episodes of care, and empower patients throughout their treatment journey.

2. Multidisciplinary care: Use multidisciplinary care to empower patients and engage them in their treatment decisions.

3. Survivorship: Resources to help focus your survivorship care offerings, develop a sustainable program that meets patients’ needs, and differentiate your cancer program in the eyes of referring physicians.

Involve physicians early and achieve true partnership

See Chapter 4 of our study, Next-Generation Tumor Site Strategy for five proven physician engagement tactics.

Get your physicians to formally commit

There are several ways to encourage physicians' participation in tumor site programs and secure their support for multidisciplinary clinics. To start, we have developed a list of criteria cancer program leaders can use to develop agreements that cement physicians’ commitment. We have also included three sample commitment contracts outlining expectations for physicians; metrics include attendance, volumes, CME amongst others.

Develop a robust quality tracking and reporting infrastructure

To start, you’ll need the infrastructure to routinely measure your tumor site program’s quality performance. Use our Clinical Quality Infrastructure Benchmarking Tool to understand the characteristics of basic, intermediate, and advanced quality infrastructures—and where your tumor site program currently falls. Read about best practices for creating an inclusive and accountable quality infrastructure and developing an automated quality reporting infrastructure.

Then use the resources below to guide you in selecting specific metrics for your tumor site program to track:

• Metric Selection Playbook 2.0: Step-by-step guidance on how to select quality metrics based on the quality strategy goals and performance priorities.
• Cancer Quality Dashboard Metric Selection Tool: Interactive tool that allows you to browse more than 200 tumor site-specific quality metrics endorsed by national quality organizations.
• Oncology Dashboard Quality Metric Picklist: Compilation of quality metrics Oncology Roundtable members are tracking in their dashboards.

Optimize tumor site program performance

Once the basic quality tracking infrastructure is built, learn best practices to create best-in-class dashboards to track quality performance on an ongoing basis—and get tools to help you build your own. Then review best practices for ensuring your quality data is highly leveraged, engaging physicians in quality improvement initiatives, and optimizing tumor site program performance.

Learn how your program stacks up

Use our Tumor Site Program Resource Grids to see the elements of basic, intermediate, and advanced tumor site programs. These grids will help you identify critical clinical, operational, and support services of key tumor site programs. Available for breast, colorectal, gynecologic, head and neck, lung, and prostate cancers as well as melanoma and neuro-oncology.

Have the right data close at hand

Also, here’s easy access to the volume, financial, and clinical benchmarks essential for strategic planning. Our Tumor Site Dashboards synthesize a range of data, including patient population demographics, volumes, primary treatment modality by stage, business unit-level finances, and volume forecasts. Available for breast, colorectal, gynecologic, lung, and prostate cancers.

Tailor your message to patients’ priorities

Use the interactive Cancer Patient Survey Results Portal to understand what patients want. You can cut the data by tumor site and other demographic factors.

See how your peers get the word out

For proven ways to market a tumor site program, read Chapter 6 of Next-Generation Tumor Site Strategy, along with our study on Online Cancer Program Marketing.