Over the past 24 hours, more than 200 nurse and patient navigators have converged on the Hyatt Regency in New Orleans, Louisiana, for the inaugural AONN East Coast Regional Meeting. Activities kicked off early in the afternoon with an Oncology Patient Navigator Code of Ethics workshop, presented by Mandi Pratt-Chapman, MA, and Linda Fleisher, PhD, MPH, for nonclinical navigators. Both nurse and patient navigators then convened in the ballroom for opening remarks given by Meeting Chair Sharon Gentry, RN, MSN, CBCN, CBEC, and the first sessions of the weekend. The day closed with a networking reception that offered guests the opportunity to reconnect with friends and meet with the many exhibitors.
On Saturday, attendees can look forward to a day full of great N.E.X.T. Day sessions and more excellent networking opportunities. Be sure to get some rest tonight; it’s going to be a busy weekend!
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Oncology Navigation and Population Health
Following her opening remarks, Sharon Gentry, RN, MSN, CBCN, CBEC, segued into the first session of the East Coast Regional Meeting. Her presentation focused on the concept of population health and the factors that drive it. She provided an overview of the concept and then discussed oncology’s role in promoting population health, highlighting the key characteristics and patient groups that are inherent to successful strategies.
In speaking about the different types of patient groups, she discussed the challenge of certain types of patients. “It’s all about the 80/20 rule,” stated Sharon. “Twenty percent of your patients will take up 80% of your time.”
She asked for a show of hands from audience members about the transition of some patient services from inpatient to outpatient.
Gentry talked about one center that had a breast cancer gap awareness statistic that went from 240 patients down to 28 in 1 year after they put a navigator “up front” with patients. “It makes a difference,” explained Gentry, about keeping people in the health system for the care they need.
Finally, Gentry walked the audience through the ways in which patient navigation can promote population health by ensuring adherence to evidence-based guidelines; reducing unnecessary emergency department and inpatient admissions; driving quality and value in cancer care; enhancing patient/provider communication; and engaging patients and families in end-of-life planning.
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Immunotherapies in Oncology
Jennifer R. Klemp, PhD, MPH, MA, took to the stage to discuss the current treatments being used in this area of medicine. Klemp spoke of the history of immunotherapy, provided an overview of this type of therapy, and discussed the wide range of potential side effects.
Klemp also detailed a case study involving former US President Jimmy Carter, who was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma last year. She spoke of the former president’s cancer care, including how immunotherapy played a role in his remission of symptoms. She remarked that it is an “amazing” turn of events that President Carter could potentially live months or even years longer thanks to immunotherapy.
She mentioned how seniors are already immunocompromised, and, contrary to previous thought, might be good candidates for clinical trials. “As we age, we become more compromised,” stated Klemp. “In the case of [President] Carter, he didn’t need chemotherapy. His age was one of his biggest strengths.”
Klemp talked about the complexity of deciding when to use immunotherapy in the treatment regimen. She mentioned the growing amount of immunotherapy clinical trials and the emphasis of it in the cancer Moonshot initiative.
This was followed with a request for a show of hands to see how many navigators were involved in immunotherapy programs and some interesting questions from the audience after Klemp’s presentation.
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Networking Reception
Once sessions wrapped up for the day, guests gathered for a networking reception in the Exhibit Hall. During this laid-back event, attendees had the opportunity to catch up with friends and make new acquaintances over cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. They also got to meet with vendors to learn about the latest products and services on the market.
Thank you to all of our sponsors and exhibitors!
