DUARTE, Calif. & SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–AccessHope, LLC, a company that provides cancer expertise to employers who offer employer sponsored insurance programs, payers, and other health and wellness organizations, today announced a new foundational collaboration with Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center (Fred Hutch) that extends the organization’s reach across key geographic regions of the United States, allowing more people living with complex cancers to access specialized cancer expertise with the aim of improving their cancer outcomes.
Fred Hutch becomes AccessHope’s fifth collaboration with a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, a selective list that has grown since AccessHope was first founded and launched by City of Hope. Through the new collaboration, cancer specialists from Fred Hutch will provide specialized cancer expertise for AccessHope’s core services: Accountable Precision Oncology, Expert Advisory Review and Cancer Support Team.
“This collaboration helps further our goal at AccessHope of ensuring that cancer expertise is accessible to everyone, no matter where they live,” said Mark Stadler, Chief Executive Officer of AccessHope. “Fred Hutch’s deep expertise, and the organization’s research in precision medicine to inform individualized cancer treatment recommendations, make the organization an incredibly valuable partner to us and to those who benefit from their deep bench of experts.”
“AccessHope’s relevance to employers continues to grow as our national footprint expands. Cancer is now the leading driver of healthcare costs to employers1. At the same time, they’re looking for solutions to issues like health equity and affordability,” said Harlan Levine, M.D., chair of the board for AccessHope. “AccessHope was founded to meet these top-of-mind concerns, providing needed support for employees and family members with cancer, and now, with the addition of Fred Hutch as a foundational partner, we are better positioned to serve plan members and their treating oncologists in the Northwest; we are honored to have them join us.”
The collaboration between AccessHope and Fred Hutch will help inform plan members and their treating oncologists of the latest cancer research and personalized treatments.
“Ensuring that anyone who is facing a cancer diagnosis has access to leading-edge cancer care is paramount to everything we do at Fred Hutch,” explained Tom Purcell, MD, MBA, Chief Medical Officer, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. “Entering into this collaboration with AccessHope enhances that goal. Collaborating with employers and payers involved with AccessHope, Fred Hutch physicians will play a critical role in supporting patients in our region and across the country through sharing key insights and knowledge that will help inform treatment plans, clinical trial opportunities and improve overall outcomes for cancer patients.”
Fred Hutch is the only National Cancer Institute-Designated Cancer Center in Washington and brings together leading research teams and cancer specialists who translate science discovery into leading-edge cancer treatments. The organization provides every patient with an individualized care plan and is a leader in developing and offering access to groundbreaking clinical trials and immunotherapy.
Patients who receive care at an NCI-Designated Cancer Center or National Comprehensive Cancer Network facility have significantly better outcomes, including improved long-term survival and strengthened treatment guideline adherence. Yet, patients who do not receive treatment at one of these elite facilities have less access to insights on the latest breakthrough medications and targeted therapies. AccessHope’s ability to connect patients to remote cancer support services aims to extend oncology expertise across the United States, in every state and ZIP code, reducing health disparities while allowing plan members to stay close to home, supported by their families and under the care of their local oncologist.
AccessHope serves approximately 3.5 million plan members who have its cancer support services through more than 80 employers including 22 of the Fortune 500, and collaborative relationships with a growing number of health plans, third-party administrators, health care platforms, consumer-driven pharmacy benefit managers and health care services companies.
To learn more about AccessHope and its services, visit myaccesshope.org. To learn more about Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, visit www.fredhutch.org.
Reference
1 Cancer now top driver of employer health care costs, says Business Group’s 2023 Health Care Strategy and Plan Design Survey [news release]. Washington, DC: Business Group on Health; August 23, 2022. https://www.businessgrouphealth.org/who-we-are/newsroom/press-releases/2023-lehcspds. Accessed August 29, 2022.
About AccessHope
AccessHope, LLC, believes in putting the ever-growing body of cancer knowledge to work for the greater good. The company delivers a revolutionary cancer benefit that connects employees with cancer to the latest cancer knowledge from City of Hope, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Emory Healthcare and Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, and Northwestern Medicine and the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, accessing the expertise of National Cancer Institute-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers. AccessHope shares the latest discoveries in cancer care and works with local oncologists to help as they develop precise plans for treatment. The company brings the vast expertise of major medical centers to people near and far. They never have to switch doctors. They never have to leave home. It’s simply a better approach to cancer. And getting better every day. A subsidiary of City of Hope, a world-renowned independent cancer research and treatment organization, AccessHope offers the benefit to approximately 3.5 million members through more than 80 employers, including 22 Fortune 500 companies. For more information about AccessHope, visit myaccesshope.org and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
About Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center unites comprehensive care and advanced research to provide the latest cancer treatment options and accelerate discoveries that prevent, treat and defeat cancer and infectious diseases worldwide.
Based in Seattle, Fred Hutch is an independent, nonprofit organization and is the only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in Washington. We have earned a global reputation for our track record of discoveries in cancer, infectious disease and basic research, including important advances in bone marrow transplantation, HIV/AIDS prevention, immunotherapy and COVID-19 vaccines. 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. Fred Hutch also serves as UW Medicine’s cancer program.
Please note that the organization was renamed Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in April 2022, following the merger of long-time partners, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.
