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Hope begins here.

If you're an HR or benefits professional seeking cancer resources for your employees, or a consultant looking to provide best-in-class cancer support for your clients, share a few details below. We’ll reach out to help your company get started.

If you’re an employee looking for your AccessHope benefit, call 800.423.3232 and select Option 1.

A benefit that's there for employees when they need it most

Your employees deserve the best, and that starts with access to the latest knowledge.

Research shows that cancer outcomes are dramatically better at National Cancer Institute (NCI)-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers. But only 20% of cases are treated there.1,2 That’s why AccessHope connects your plan and your employees' community oncologists with NCI subspecialists, which can allow your employees to benefit from leading research, from the comfort of home.

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We proudly partner with NCI centers to remotely deliver expertise to help employees and their families nationwide

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

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Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center

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Northwestern Medicine

Northwestern Medicine

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City of Hope

City of Hope is a world renowned cancer research and treatment center based in southern California. It is a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, in addition to being a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, making it a national leader in advancing research and treatment protocols. For over a decade, City of Hope has been identified as one of the nation’s elite cancer hospitals by U.S. News & World Report.

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Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA is a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital. It is the #1 ranked cancer hospital in New England by US News & World Report. Nationwide, it is the only cancer hospital to be ranked in the top 5 for both adult and pediatric oncology care. Dana-Farber is dedicated to a unique balance of cancer care and research, translating discovery into new therapies for patients around the world and offering more than 1,100 clinical trials.

Dana-Farber is a founding member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC), an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, the top academic recipient of grant funding from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and has the most highly cited research of any U.S. cancer center.

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Emory Healthcare

Emory Healthcare, with more than 24,000 employees and 11 hospitals, is the most comprehensive academic health system in Georgia. System-wide, it has 2,701 licensed patient beds, more than 2,800 physicians practicing in more than 70 specialties, serving metro Atlanta with 250 locations. It also provides services to greater Georgia through a joint venture at St. Francis–Emory Healthcare Hospital in Columbus, 10 regional affiliate hospitals, and its clinically integrated physician network.

As the National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer center for the state of Georgia, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University discovers, develops and delivers some of the world's most effective ways to prevent, detect, diagnose and treat each patient's unique cancer. Winship leverages the depth and breadth of Emory University and collaborates with other NCI-designated cancer centers and leading cancer organizations. Winship investigators conducted more than 300 therapeutic clinical trials and enrolled more than 900 patients in 2020. Winship has more than 500 faculty and received $80 million in cancer research funding in 2020, $33 million of that from the NCI.

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Northwestern Medicine

Northwestern Medicine is a nationally recognized health system that provides world-class care.  Anchored by Northwestern Memorial Hospital, ranked No. 1 in Illinois and No. 9 in the nation by US News and World Report. Northwestern Medicine encompasses more than 200 locations including 10 hospitals, the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and The Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center. 

Backed by the Lurie Cancer Center, Northwestern Memorial Hospital is ranked #9 in the nation by US News and World Report and is part of a select group of National Cancer Institute (NCI) designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers. Dedicated to overcoming cancer through scientific discovery, the Lurie Cancer Center provides compassionate, leading edge cancer care in a state of the art facility.

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Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center combines adult cancer care and advanced scientific research, and has a history of discoveries that treat, cure and identify prevention strategies for cancer and infectious diseases. The organization was renamed in April 2022, following the merger of long-time partners, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center is an independent, nonprofit organization that serves as UW Medicine’s cancer program.

Fred Hutch has been a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center since 1973. Global leadership in bone marrow transplantation, HIV/AIDS, immunotherapy and COVID-19 helped Fred Hutch earn recognition as one of the world’s leading cancer, infectious disease and biomedical research centers. Based in Seattle, Fred Hutch operates eight clinical care sites that provide medical oncology, infusion, radiation, proton therapy and related services, and has network affiliations with hospitals in five states.

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cancer is complex - transparent

Cancer is complicated

There are hundreds of cancer types and variants, and optimal treatments can be radically different depending on factors like genetics and stage. AccessHope supports your plan, your employee, and their oncologist with expertise related to their specific case, to make a real, measurable, tangible difference.

costly-final

Cancer is costly

In addition to the financial strain it places on employees, cancer is now the top medical expense category for employers.3 AccessHope uses the latest knowledge to help reduce those expenses, while providing support for people with cancer and their families.
equality-final

Cancer doesn't treat all people equally

A troubling gap exists between cancer treatment and cancer outcomes based on race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, and other characteristics.4 AccessHope can help fortify those gaps with support for your employees, no matter what their zip code or job level is.

Hear from an AccessHope member

I can personally vouch for AccessHope’s program as it gave me the peace of mind of knowing my treatment plan was correct. It’s a scary time and very confusing as one moment you’re totally healthy and the next you have a cancer diagnosis. AccessHope is the most impactful program and I realize it’s so helpful to make known these great solutions.

Pat Pitsch AccessHope Member

The proof is in the
(peer-reviewed) paper

Our subspecialists provided evidence-based recommendations that had the potential to influence the treatment plan in approximately 93% of cases.5

Download the study summary

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Frequently Asked Questions

 

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How are you different than other cancer support services?

AccessHope’s employer benefit gives employer self-funded plans and the treating physicians of employees remote access to renowned cancer expertise through foundational partnerships with NCI–Designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, allowing a 100% focus on cancer.

We bring advanced expert knowledge to advise on clinical aspects of a proposed treatment plan and provide evidence-based recommendations including personalized precision medicine opportunities, as well as appropriate clinical trial information and support services, regardless of an employee’s location.

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How is AccessHope different than Centers of Excellence (COE) services?

COE services provide medical care to cancer patients; AccessHope does not. AccessHope’s business model remotely connects (a) employees to cancer support services from expert oncology nurses and support staff via our Cancer Support Team; (b) employees’ community oncologists (via our Expert Advisory Review service) and benefit plans (via our Accountable Precision Oncology service) to the latest expertise from NCI–Designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, eliminating the need to travel for leading cancer expertise and leaving their care decisions 100% in the hands of their local treating physician. Our program supports all cancer types and stages along the member’s journey, while they stay close to home with their local support system.

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How are you different than second opinion or expert medical opinion (EMO) services?

Unlike EMO solutions that provide written case reports to members, AccessHope specialists deliver a detailed report on each unique cancer case to the member’s plan or their community oncologist and follow up with an offer of a peer-to-peer clinical consultation call to discuss the evidenced-based recommendations. AccessHope is focused solely on supporting cancer cases with the latest knowledge from NCI centers to help improve quality of life and health outcomes for more people with cancer.

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How does AccessHope work in practice? What exactly do you do?

AccessHope offers remote cancer support services to employers nationwide – Accountable Precision Oncology, Expert Advisory Review and Cancer Support Team.

AccessHope connects employees to expertise from NCI–Designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers—to provide unparalleled decision support to cancer patients’ treating physicians and health plans throughout the cancer journey.

Learn more about our suite of services.

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Are community oncologists willing to collaborate with your subspecialists?

Yes. In more than 90% of cases, AccessHope experts offer recommendations which, if adopted by community oncologists, have the potential to influence meaningful and actionable changes to the recommended treatment plan.

In fact, our innovative model of remote expert case reviews was recently validated by a peer-reviewed study in the medical journal JCO Oncology Practice.

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How do you provide expertise to employees with cancer? Do they need to travel?

AccessHope services do not require members to travel, but instead provide remote access to leading-edge insights.

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How difficult would it be for me to implement AccessHope at my organization?

To implement our member-initiated Expert Advisory Review and Cancer Support Team services, AccessHope requires an eligibility file sent weekly from your organization. Our Implementation team will work with you to develop cohesive workflows to streamline this process.

You can send an inquiry now to get started.

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How do you handle member privacy?

AccessHope values members’ privacy. All employee information is transmitted, used and stored securely, according to applicable HIPAA guidelines.

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How is AccessHope addressing cancer health disparities?

While science continues to evolve, disparities in healthcare based on race and geography persist. AccessHope’s remote approach to Expert Advisory Review and Accountable Precision Oncology services addresses disparities by providing access to NCI expertise regardless of the employee’s geographic location. Highly specialized hospitals like NCI centers have been shown in a study to have higher survival rates over 5 years versus community hospitals.1

As an organization, AccessHope also administers diversity, equity, and inclusion training for their physician, clinical and research teams on empathy, authentic communication, unconscious bias and other related topics.

Reference

1 Pfister DG, Rubin DM, Elkin EB, et al. Risk adjusting survival outcomes in hospitals that treat patients with cancer without information on cancer stage. JAMA Oncol. 2015;1(9)1303-1310.

Our leaders

Meet the people who are transforming the way we fight cancer

Mark
Stadler

Chief Executive Officer

As CEO, Mark drives the overall strategy and direction of AccessHope. His prior leadership experience includes successes with BridgeHealth, HealthSmart Holdings, Inc., Aon Hewitt, Great-West Healthcare, UnitedHealthcare and more.

David
Lamm

Chief Financial Officer

In David’s role as CFO, he advises on AccessHope’s financial and growth strategies. This role builds on his leadership background in finance, compliance and administration within healthcare and healthcare technology companies such as Ingenious Med, MedData and Kaiser Permanente.

Todd
Sachs, M.D.

Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Todd Sachs leads AccessHope’s clinical team and oversees the remote delivery of our cancer support services. Passionate about addressing healthcare disparities and promoting value-based care, Todd is deeply dedicated to staying in the know on the newest protocols and medications in the always-advancing field of oncology.

 

Board certified by the American Board of Surgery and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Todd specializes in endocrine surgery of the thyroid and parathyroid glands. He also belongs to the California Medical Association and Los Angeles Surgical Society.

Jonathan
Smith

Chief Commercial Officer

Jonathan creates a strong customer and consultant experience as CCO.  His history in the healthcare consulting, brokerage, and health plan industries includes significant leadership experience with Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and Willis Towers Watson.

Abhishek
Kumar

Chief Information Officer

Abhishek is responsible for the management, strategy and operations of IT infrastructure and oversees the IT Strategy and Information Security Program. His experience includes success with Johns Hopkins, City Of Hope and Johnson & Johnson.

Joy
Kincaid

Chief Product Officer

Joy drives product strategy and innovation to ensure cancer care—pioneered by the best and brightest—is readily accessible by all. She’s a serial entrepreneur with 20 years in healthcare, including OncoHealth, Optum, Wellcare Health Plans, and Accenture.

Joseph
Alvarnas, M.D.

Chief Clinical Advisor | AccessHope; VP, Government Affairs and Senior Medical Director for Employer Strategy, Clinical Professor, Hematology/HCT | City of Hope

Dr. Alvarnas is AccessHope’s Chief Clinical Advisor with a passion for changing the healthcare system to ensure the delivery of first-class cancer care. He’s also a Clinical Professor of Hematology, the Vice President of Government Affairs, and the Senior Medical Director for Employer Strategy at City of Hope, a world-renowned independent cancer research and treatment center. For the center, he leads advocacy efforts at the federal, state, and local levels, and assists in developing, marketing, and operationalizing the clinical infrastructure and activities related to employer and payer strategies.  

Melissa
Gilkerson

Vice President, Marketing & Communications

Melissa drives the AccessHope brand and marketing strategy and oversees member engagement. Her 20 years of experience include successive leadership roles with StayWell as well as positions with Willis Towers Watson and RBC Capital Markets.

Cory
Morin

Vice President, Foundational Partners

Cory is the VP of Foundational Partners for AccessHope. He brings 17 years of project/program management and leadership experience in the healthcare industry to his role.  

References:

1 National Cancer Institute. Data table 3: Reportable patients/participation in therapeutic studies. National Institute of Health Web site. https://cancercenters.cancer.gov/DT/DT3. Accessed June 4, 2021.

2 American Cancer Society. https://www.cancer.org/content/dam/cancer-org/research/cancer-facts-and-statistics/annual-cancer-facts-and-figures/2020/cancer-facts-and-figures-2020.pdf. Accessed September 8, 2022.

3 Business Group on Health. 2023 Large Employers’ Health Care Strategy and Plan Design Survey. August 2022. Available at: https://www.businessgrouphealth.org/ resources/2023-large-employers-health-care-strategy-survey-intro

4 American Association for Cancer Research. AACR Cancer Disparities Progress Report 2020. https://cancerprogressreport.aacr.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/AACR_CDPR_2020.pdf. Published 2020. Accessed October 6, 2020.

5 West HJ, Tan YA, Barzi A, Wong D, Parsley R, Sachs T. Novel program offering remote, asynchronous subspecialist input in thoracic oncology: Early experience and insights gained during the COVID-19 pandemic [published online ahead of print December 3, 2021]. JCO Oncology Practice. doi:10.1200/OP.21.00339

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