How four partnerships are advancing cutting-edge cancer care

Top cancer treatment organizations are leaning into partnerships to take care delivery to the next level.

The National Cancer Institute estimates more than 2 million cases of cancer will be diagnosed in 2024. Healthcare leaders say collaboration among technology companies, research institutes, academic medical centers and universities allows them to combine resources and develop cutting-edge treatments more quickly — potentially at a fraction of the cost of standalone projects.

Related: Biden's cancer moonshot boosts startups

But partnerships don’t come without the occasional scuffle. In September 2023, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute announced a partnership with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to open a freestanding cancer hospital in Boston. The move will sever a decades-long relationship between Dana-Farber and Mass General Brigham, which has started touting new plans for its own cancer institute. Still, systems say partnerships are crucial to improving care.

“Anytime that you can partner with other industry experts, particularly in cancer care, and compare notes on care delivery protocols and what’s working, what’s not working, you’re going to be able to up your game from a quality standpoint,” said Matt Walsh, chief operating officer at Rush University System for Health.

Here’s what executives say about how four partnerships are advancing cancer care and why collaboration made the most sense for their systems.

Rush University System and MD Anderson

MD Anderson Cancer Center and Rush announced a partnership in April to form the Rush MD Anderson Cancer Center in Illinois, covering Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Rush Copley Medical Center in Aurora, Rush Oak Park Hospital in Oak Park and Rush Copley Healthcare Center in Yorkville. It also opened an ambulatory center in October in Lisle.

Walsh said discussions between the two institutions began before the COVID-19 pandemic, as Rush was interested in MD Anderson’s multispecialty clinic model for cancer patients and adding clinical trial programs. Working with an academic medical center in Chicago can bring a more diverse population to MD Anderson’s trials, he added.

Doctors at Rush MD Anderson are credentialed under both institutions. Rush clinicians have virtual access to expertise at MD Anderson’s main hub in Houston, Walsh said.

Finding a partner made more sense for Rush than expanding on its own.

“We could probably afford it … but particularly with the clinical trial piece, being able to plug in to what MD Anderson can offer versus having to build that infrastructure and get the grants to have the clinical trials available, this is going to get us there a lot quicker,” Walsh said.

Rush became the seventh partner in MD Anderson's hospital network when the collaboration was announced in April.

"The institution continually explores opportunities to collaborate with a variety of organizations ... with whom we can align complementary strengths to make progress for patients," MD Anderson said in a statement.

Moffitt Cancer Center and Reimagine Care

Tampa, Florida-based Moffitt Cancer Center and Reimagine Care, an on-demand cancer care provider, partnered in September to offer virtual, 24/7 care for Moffitt patients.

Patients experiencing treatment-related symptoms such as nausea or vomiting can message a chatbot named Remi to answer basic questions. If the issue isn’t resolved, Reimagine connects patients to a clinician through text, phone call or video visit. Depending on severity, Reimagine matches patients with a registered nurse or advanced practice provider, and in some cases, sends someone to the home.

Moffitt physicians oversee the care process and step in when needed. The goal is to proactively address a patient’s symptoms at home before they lead to a hospital visit, said Dr. Tim Hembree, chief quality officer at Moffitt.

“We see this partnership as certainly enhancing the quality of life for our patients but also hopefully impacting their survival overall,” Hembree said.

Moffitt and Reimagine will run a yearlong trial starting early next year to make sure the process is working before expanding the service to more patients, he said. Without Reimagine, Moffitt would have to operate its own command center, which Hembree said wouldn't play into the system's strengths.

Moffitt’s collaboration with Reimagine is one of the first to launch from CancerX, a public-private effort as part of the Biden Cancer Moonshot initiative to help boost innovation in cancer care.

Dan Nardi, CEO at Reimagine, said the company's solution helps with staffing constraints and adds capacity for new patients. Reimagine has partnered with other providers, including Memorial Hermann Health System and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

Rice University and MD Anderson

MD Anderson Cancer Center and Rice University launched a joint initiative in September called the Center for Operations Research in Cancer. The center plans to use data science and applied mathematics experts from the institutions to develop new ways to deliver care, streamline operations and improve outcomes.

Operations research can help cancer centers — and providers in general — adapt clinical trials as they go, predict case volumes or keep surgeries running on time, said Jeffrey Siewerdsen, professor of imaging physics and co-lead for the safety, quality and access focus area of MD Anderson’s Institute for Data Science in Oncology.

“It’s not about just maximizing the number of cases that you can perform every day in the operating rooms. It’s optimizing the team. ...What time did they start? What time are they finished? Are they double-booked? Are they getting breaks?” Siewerdsen said. “We’re just not optimized really for the 21st century.”

Siewerdsen said the initiative was about tapping into expertise from Rice and MD Anderson, in addition to accessing a talent pipeline to build solutions. He declined to provide an investment cost.

Andrew Schaefer, professor of computational applied mathematics and operations research at Rice, said he sees potential in how operations research can grow to improve quality of life for patients, through the partnership and across the country.

"We want to work on things that are really going to help the institution deliver better care," Schaefer said.

City of Hope and AccessHope's partner network

Duarte, California-based City of Hope launched AccessHope in 2019 and spun it off in 2020 to attract partners. AccessHope connects employees at more than 400 companies to expertise from a network of National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers, including Dana-Farber and Northwestern Medicine in Chicago.

AccessHope, which covers 7 million members, converted to a for-profit company earlier this year to increase its investment opportunities.

The company is eyeing more growth. In April, AccessHope raised $33 million in Series B funding from City of Hope, which remains a majority shareholder. In June, AccessHope welcomed the UT Southwestern Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center into its network.

“Cancer is actually different from other conditions,” said Dr. Harlan Levine, chair of the AccessHope board and president of health innovation and policy at City of Hope. “The knowledge is exploding at a rate that the national network of oncologists can’t keep up... In all these other conditions, we have an abundance of expertise. In cancer, you’re actually getting a widening gap between optimal care and typical care.”

Levine said partnerships in cancer care can lead to better care coordination and more clinical research in the communities where patients live. He said AccessHope is pushing for integration in the cancer care ecosystem to benefit patients, not transactional relationships.