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"Cancer." The
word alone evokes a sense of fear that is universally understood. As an illness,
it is disruptive in so many ways. Classified as a catastrophic condition, cancer
exacts a huge emotional, physical, and fiscal toll on everyone involved, from the
patient to the patient’s family and friends to the employer or organization
who offers support.
For self-insured employers, the cost for a single employee with leukemia can be
as much as $300,000 to $400,000. For other cancers, pharmacy costs alone can be $10,000
to $20,000 for every month of treatment. Late detection of cancer together with inappropriate
and unmanaged care needlessly drives up the cost of cancer treatment.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Cardium Health offers cancer case management
for employer groups. Unlike other disease
management programs where the goal is to effect lifestyle changes, cancer case
management seeks to encourage participants to change their behavior in ways that
allows them to become self-advocates in
their own care. |
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With a people-centered approach,
we help individuals understand their treatment options and ways to prevent unnecessary
complications. We work with cancer patients and their medical team to provide ongoing
patient education, to coordinate and facilitate care, ensure evidence-based therapy,
manage side effects, and control costs. Our case managers are welcomed by the patient’s
medical team and are considered an important element in ensuring that the highest-quality
level of care is provided.
Our Oncology Case Management program is designed for people already diagnosed with cancer.
Case managers provide one-on-one telephonic education, counseling, care coordination,
and support for participants and caregivers. The program is specially designed to take
into consideration comorbid conditions and unique participant needs.
| Objectives |
OCM
Interventions |
- Ensure that cancer diagnosis is correct
- Minimize the effect of treatment complications to avoid hospital readmissions
- Provide coordination to avoid duplicate and/or unnecessary tests and medical services
- Assist in reducing unnecessarily high treatment costs
- Provide expertise in end-of-life treatment options, including hospice care
- Improve medical and financial outcomes for participants and payers by enabling evidence-based care
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- Evaluate and monitor treatment to closely follow participants during and after care delivery
- Participant education to enable treatment compliance and minimize severity of treatment side effects and to encourage self-advocacy
- Regular communications with employer regarding evolution of claims
- Reports include both medical and financial outcomes
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Real Caring | Standards
of Care
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