ECHO is featured on Connecticut East
ECHO was featured on the October 1st podcast of CT East. As the cost of cancer care goes up and large hospitals swallow up independent physician practices, ECHO continues to serve the community by providing the highest quality care in a cost-effective and personalized manner. In the podcast, hear from President Dr. Dinesh Kapur, Administrators Anne Slam and Christie Beausoleil, and nurse and advocacy leader Cynthia Przekop.
Click below to listen:
Highlights from the Discussion: Dr. Kapur
How cancer care has evolved…
When I was finishing my training, we would think about antibodies and genetic tests that I never thought would come to fruition during my career. And, here we are – elegant t-cell-based therapies that are harnessing the power of the immune system to fight cancers. We have much better diagnostics. We have much better supportive care. Every day in hematology and oncology, we are finding a new treatment, a new diagnostic tool, or something new. Makes you really say ‘Wow’.
The role of research…
At ECHO, we have a very robust Research Department that provides cutting edge treatments to our patients. At any given time, we have over 35 clinical trials open. We were the third ones to enroll a patient in a sarcoma trial, we are now working on a vaccine trial for colorectal cancer, and many more. This give our patients a treatment option when there is none available, or gives patients the option initially to bolster the effects of a currently available treatment. This is how you really advance medicine. This is how you learn about what treatments are going to work and minimize the side effects for the patients. Unlike large hospitals and institutions, we are nimble and can get a trial opened and running in under 30 days.
The personal touch…
We pride ourselves on delivering personal care with a personal touch. ECHO is a practice in the community, for the community! We have really taken the mantle of providing this level of cancer care in the community and to that effect, we take this responsibility very seriously. We have our own social worker, we have our own triage nurses, we have our own nurse navigator. We want to provide patients with everything in one location including our own research, labs, and infusion centers.
A cost-effective option for the highest quality care…
Cancer treatment services are not cheap. Research and studies show that the most efficient and value-based care is provided in independent community cancer centers like ECHO. Unfortunately, in the country due to various policy mishaps, many community practices have been eliminated.
Studies have been done now that cost of care in a hospital-based setting or in a network-based setting is two to three times the cost in a community oncology practice.