CANCER BUZZ

As oncology therapies become increasingly complex and high cost, cancer programs are being pushed to rethink how financial, operational, and clinical decisions come together in practice. In this episode, CANCER BUZZ sits down with Sarah Hudson-DiSalle, Assistant Director of Infusion Reimbursement Services, to explore the real-world financial landscape of bispecific antibodies (BsAbs), focusing on how organizations evaluate readiness, navigate uncertainty, and manage financial risk. Through a practical, system-level lens, this conversation highlights where challenges emerge, how institutions are approaching implementation, and what lessons may translate across care settings.

"Helping leadership get comfortable [with] the financial risk kind of starts with that clear communication and education on the drug as a whole. Getting them to see past just the dollar tag of the drug. It's important to provide kind of that balanced view of both clinical value and financial implication, so they can make a really informed decision of how that impacts patient care, their community, and the institution as a whole." - Sarah Hudson-DiSalle, PharmD, RPh, FACCC

"I've learned that it's important having a clear plan from the beginning, making sure that you know who your stakeholders are, aligning those around the plan, and having consistent monitoring for outcomes for implementation of who's your customer. Regardless of the organization's size, that success rate really starts with understanding the clinical, the operational, the financial implications of the new therapies, and then defining your roles, responsibilities, and processes up front, and who needs to know that information." - Sarah Hudson-DiSalle, PharmD, RPh, FACCC

In partnership with HOPA, APSHO, LRF.

This program was made possible with support from AbbVie, Amgen, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Genentech.

Guest: Sarah Hudson-DiSalle, PharmD, RPh, FACCC

Assistant Director of Infusion Reimbursement Services

The James Cancer Hospital and Wexner Medical Center at the Ohio State University Department of Pharmacy

Resources:

• A Blueprint for Successful Integration of Bispecific Antibodies

• Delivery Models for Administering T-Cell-Engaging Bispecific Antibodies

• Delivering T-Cell-Engaging Bispecific Antibodies: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• ACCC Office Hours Recording - Bispecific Antibodies: One BiTE at a Time

• Bispecific Antibodies Checklist for Community Providers

• Using Bispecific Antibodies in Community Practice: Challenges and Opportunities

• Expanding Access to Cellular and Bispecific Therapies: Considerations and Recommendations

Social drivers of health such as geographic distance, travel burden, or limited availability at specialized patient centers bar many eligible patients from receiving first-line, potentially curative therapies, including chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy. Community cancer centers in particular often struggle to offer CAR T, due to the extensive resources required to safely maintain a CAR T program: emergency department access, intensive care unit resources, and inpatient admission availability.

In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with 2026 ACCC Innovator Award winner Andrew Dalovisio, MD, Director of the Myeloma, Lymphoma, and Cellular Therapy Program at Mary Bird Perkins, about how his team successfully launched the first fully outpatient CAR T-cell therapy program for select blood cancers in the Baton Rouge region. For other community cancer centers interested in developing a similar program, Dr. Dalovisio stressed the importance of identifying both a physician and administrative champion to navigate the process in a dyad partnership.

"Less than one in five patients who meet indications [for CAR T-cell therapy] even get a referral. We can talk about how wonderful all these medicines we have are, but if they're not getting to the patients that need them, [they're] not serving [their] purpose." – Andrew Dalovisio, MD

Guest:

Andrew Dalovisio, MD

Director, Myeloma, Lymphoma, and Cellular Therapy Program

Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Resources:

• ACCC 43rd National Oncology Conference

• 2026 ACCC Innovator Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center

• Designing a Safe, Fully Outpatient CAR T-Cell Program in the Community

• CAR T-Cell Therapy Insights from the Field

• Rising to the Occasion: The Impact of Outpatient CAR T-Cell Therapy at the Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin Health Network

Where a person lives in the United States significantly influences both the quality of the cancer care they receive and their treatment outcomes. With a growing mortality gap between patients living in urban and rural areas and a distinct struggle for patients in rural communities to afford their care, implementing thoughtful, targeted outreach in rural areas has never been more important.

In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with 2026 ACCC Innovator Award winner Theresa W. Gillespie, PhD, MA, FAAN, Professor and Associate Director for Community Outreach and Engagement at Winship Cancer Institute, about her program's Embedded Community Staff model, which provides funding to community partners that hire local individuals who are deeply familiar with their communities, their needs, and their resources.

"It's a beautiful partnership. The people in the communities have the knowledge and superb expertise of their own community, and then we can provide the funding and oversight." –

Theresa W. Gillespie, PhD, MA, FAAN

Guest: Theresa W. Gillespie, PhD, MA, FAAN

Professor and Associate Director for Community Outreach and Engagement Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University Atlanta, Georgia

Resources:

• ACCC 43rd National Oncology Conference

• 2026 ACCC Innovator Winship Cancer Institute

• Local Staff, Lasting Impact: A New Model for Rural Cancer Prevention

• Primary Care Meets Cancer Prevention: Insights From Sanford World Clinic – Ghana

• From Fatigue to Function: Redefining Rural Cancer Care Through Exercise Oncology

• Shared Solutions for Rural Oncology: Insights Across the Americas

On top of coping with the anxiety of a cancer diagnosis and the physical effects of treatment, patients with cancer face the dual challenge of accessing and affording care. Many patients delay seeking care due to the perceived high cost, and others experience burdensome medical debt as a result of their care. In many cancer programs, financial navigators focus on obtaining financial clearance and assistance for eligible patients. However, this approach can fail to address patient distress stemming from the cost of care, insurance-related delays, and redundant work for cancer program staff.

In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with 2026 ACCC Innovator Award winner Cathleen Hernandez-Vita, BSN, RN, ONN-CG, Associate Director of MDAnderson Navigation Services at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, about how her team worked to address these challenges. The program developed a novel Pre-Intake Navigation (PIN) program to identify and resolve early financial and insurance barriers, enabling patients to access timely, high-quality cancer care with less anxiety and fewer delays. Hernandez-Vita shares how PIN shifts financial navigation from a late-stage, reactive task to an early, standardized, patient-centered process embedded in the call center workflow.

"As organizations embrace new technologies and out-of-the-box solutions, it's important not to lose sight of the human, caring touch. Successful innovation is often about finding the right balance between efficiency and empathy." – Cathleen Hernandez-Vita, BSN, RN, ONN-CG

Guest: Cathleen Hernandez-Vita, BSN, RN, ONN-CG

Associate Director, askMDAnderson Navigation Services

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Houston, Texas

Resources:

• ACCC 43rd National Oncology Conference

• 2026 ACCC Innovator MD Anderson Cancer Center

• Transforming Access to Care Through Pre-Intake Navigation

• ACCC Financial Advocacy Network

• Financial Advocacy Network Resources

• Bridging the Gap: Enhancing Cancer Care Through Financial Navigation

Decentralized clinical Trials (DCTs) bring some or all elements of a clinical trial closer to patients. Consent, screening, treatment administration, and more can be administered through digital technologies and local health care providers, expanding accessibility for patients who face barriers to participation in traditional single site trials. In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with Erin Pierce, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, Associate Clinical Investigator and Nurse Practitioner at HonorHealth Research Institute, and Kristen Kipping-Johnsson, MPH, Director of Network Research Operations at the University of Chicago, about how each of their cancer programs are approaching DCT implementation. Their discussion explores how decentralized components, such as community-based treatment delivery, centralized research infrastructure, and hybrid trial designs, can increase participation opportunities for patients in both community and academic settings.

Guests:

Erin Pierce, MSN, APRN, FNP-C

Associate Clinical Investigator

Nurse Practitioner

HonorHealth Research Institute

Scottsdale, AZ

Kristen Kipping-Johnson, MPH

Director of Network Research Operations

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

"APPs are really poised to step into that role [of investigator] and help, not take the place of physicians, but work alongside our physician colleagues and enable us to expand the abilities of research." —Erin Pierce, MSN, APRN, FNP-C

"Quality of life, being able to keep patients treated closer to home, allow them to stay with the physician that diagnosed them...Those are the things that are really important to me when it comes to decentralization." —Kristen Kipping-Johnson, MPH

Resources

• HonorHealth Research Institute's First Steps to Approaching Decentralized Clinical Trials (DCTs)

• University of Chicago's Path to Operationalizing Decentralized Phase 1 Trials Across a Regional Network

• ACCC's Community Oncology Research Institute White Paper: Bringing Cancer Research to the Community: Strategic Approaches to Representative Oncology Clinical Trial Design

This podcast was created in partnership with the Decentralized Trials & Research Alliance, with support from Eli Lilly and Company, Gilead Sciences, and Merck.

In this episode of Oncology Unscripted, hosts Mark Liu and Deirdre Saulet speak with Karen Winkfield, MD, PhD, a radiation oncologist and Associate Director of the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, about her decades-long passion for community outreach and engagement to bring curative cancer treatment to underserved populations. Dr. Winkfield discusses the heavy financial burden of cancer and the need for policymakers and institutions to truly care for and prioritize the health of the American people. She also emphasizes the importance of "asset mapping" for healthcare administrators to take stock of the resources at their disposal and going out into the community to speak directly with people about what needs are not being met.

"Policy is important for thinking about how we move the needle forward in cancer care. But it's not just policy on the national level or at the state level; it's actually institutional policy as well. And that's where access to care becomes personal for providers...What are the things that we can do as oncologists or...healthcare administrators to really ensure that we're taking good care of the communities we say we're there for?" – Karen Winkfield, MD, PhD

Guest: Karen Winkfield, MD, PhD Radiation Oncologist Associate Director Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center Nashville, Tennessee

To submit a topic of discussion to the podcast, please email [email protected] and [email protected].

The 2026 Oncology Unscripted series is exclusively sponsored by Advarra.

Resources

• A Call to Reimagine Community Engagement and Equity in Cancer

• Shared Solutions for Rural Oncology: Insights Across the Americas

• Spirituality and Cultural Humility: Core Components of Comprehensive Palliative Care

• 2026 ACCC Innovator Award Winner: Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center

Revenue cycle operations teams are responsible for maintaining reimbursement integrity and regulatory compliance across a rapidly expanding oncology service line. Increasing payer scrutiny—particularly for high-cost oncology therapies—has created significant operational strain, treatment delays, and administrative burden for providers.

In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with 2026 ACCC Innovator Award winner Lacy Sheets, MBA, Director of Patient Financial Navigation at St. Luke's Cancer Institute, about her program's development and implementation of a Clinical Documentation Integrity Registered Nurse role. Embedded within revenue cycle operations, this role partners directly with physicians, financial navigators, pharmacists, and others to ensure medical necessity documentation is accurate and compliant with payer requirements.

"The whole goal of this [position] is for our patients to be treated...in a more timely fashion...and not have to worry about all of that authorization work, as well as try to eliminate that [burden for] our providers." – Lacy Sheets, MBA

Guest: Lacy Sheets, MBA

Director of Patient Financial Navigation, St. Luke's Revenue Cycle Operations St. Luke's Regional Medical Center / St. Luke's Cancer Institute

Boise, Idaho

Resources:

• ACCC 43rd National Oncology Conference

• 2026 ACCC Innovator St. Luke's Cancer Institute

• Transforming Oncology Authorization Through Clinical and Revenue Cycle Collaboration

• Optimizing Revenue Cycle Management in Oncology

• Due Diligence in Limiting Payer Denials

Bispecific antibodies (BsAbs) continue to garner the interest of both academic and community cancer centers due to their rapid growth in FDA approvals and increasing use in hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. However, practical considerations such as treatment-related toxicities, choosing the right delivery model, and staffing constraints deter many programs from attempting to implement BsAbs.

In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with 2026 ACCC Innovator Award winner Kate Kennedy, MSN, APRN, ACNP-BC, AOCNP, an Outpatient Hematology Advanced Practice Provider (APP) Team Lead at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, about her program's APP-led BsAb step-up dosing clinic. With APPs at the helm, this model enables efficient and specialty-expert management of therapies while optimizing physician resources. In addition, its adherence to step-up dosing protocols prioritizes patient safety and convenience while reducing inpatient resource utilization.

"[It's important to look] at what you need to spend money on, [make] sure that you're spending money on the right things, and then [look] for areas like space and staff that maybe have capacity that you can utilize in a little bit of a different way to deliver this care." – Kathryn Kennedy, MSN, APRN, ACNP-BC, AOCNP

Guest: Kathryn Kennedy, MSN, APRN, ACNP-BC, AOCNPOutpatient Hematology APP Team Lead Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center Nashville, Tennessee

Resources:

• ACCC 43rd National Oncology Conference

• 2026 ACCC Innovator Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center

• Blog: An APP-Led Outpatient Bispecific Antibody Clinic

• Podcast: APPs Paving the Way in Leadership

• Blog: Maximizing the Role of APPs in Oncology Care

• Blog: Bispecific Antibodies Are Moving Forward; So Are the Implementation Questions

As bispecific antibodies (BsAbs) become more integrated into oncology care, much of the focus has been placed on clinical protocols and operational readiness. However, less attention has been paid to the patient and caregiver experience. In this episode, CANCER BUZZ explores how it feels physically and emotionally for patients to begin and continue BsAb therapy. Grounded in real-world insights, this discussion highlights the logistical and emotional challenges that arise during the step-up period and early treatment phases and identifies opportunities for care teams to better support patients throughout their journey.

In partnership with HOPA and APSHO.

This program was made possible with support from Johnson & Johnson and Genentech.

Guest:

Leslie Mader, RN, BSN, OCN

Patient Care Coordinator, Bispecific Drug Therapy and IEC Therapy, Hematology/Stem Cell Transplant

Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center

"It decreased the amount of time they had to be in the clinic, you know, because a lot of these people we're getting them back to their regular lives where they can work, they can go to you know continue on with life. So anything that we can give that's in an injection, and anything that's targeted to decrease systemic reactions is better for the patient." - Leslie Mader

"They think, oh, this is great. I'm going to get through it with no problems. And then they get dose three or dose four, and they're like crap. You know, they get discouraged. But usually, you know, we have emergency drugs that we give them dexamethasone, and it usually resolves quickly." - Lesie Mader

Resources:

• A Blueprint for Successful Integration of Bispecific Antibodies

• Delivery Models for Administering T-Cell-Engaging Bispecific Antibodies

• Delivering T-Cell-Engaging Bispecific Antibodies: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

• ACCC Office Hours Recording - Bispecific Antibodies: One BiTE at a Time

• Bispecific Antibodies Checklist for Community Providers

• Using Bispecific Antibodies in Community Practice: Challenge and Opportunities

• Expanding Access to Cellular and Bispecific Therapies: Considerations and Recommendations

Jon Treffert was diagnosed with locally advanced muscle-invasive bladder cancer in September 2023. After 2 years of treatment, including surgical resection and 6 months with an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), he had no evidence of disease and an intact bladder. In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with Treffert about his experience receiving ADCs and how he is using his platform as a patient advocate to support other patients make informed decisions about their bladder cancer care.

Guest: Jon Treffert Bladder Cancer Patient Advocate Powell, TN

"I'm trying to build a community, a cohort of people like myself, who have chosen to keep their bladder, have had a complete response to EVP, and try to share lived experience." —Jon Treffert

"One piece of advice I always give is tell your care team anytime you have something that's out of the ordinary." —Jon Treffert

Resources:

• Jon's Story: "I encourage folks to do their own research."

• Journey to Health blog

• ACCC Bladder Cancer Resources

• ACCC Antibody-Drug Conjugate Resources