Letter to the President

Dear President Biden,

We are deeply grateful for your and Dr. Biden’s steadfast commitment to end cancer as we know it and for the hope you have imparted to the cancer community. Through the Cancer Moonshot and other efforts, your leadership has served as a powerful catalyst in improving outcomes through advances in cancer care and research.

Unfortunately, disparities in cancer care persist, and many have been increasing. Patients, including individuals from under-resourced and marginalized communities, continue to experience dangerous delays in cancer treatment, struggle with unmet social needs, and face decisions about their care without support. This must change.

Patient navigation is an evidence-based approach to improving health equity by supporting patients’ social and care needs so that they can focus on their health. Your effort to expand access to patient-centered, high-quality care by allowing the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to pay for navigation services for cancer and other serious illnesses is an important step, but there is more work to do to ensure that we reach all cancer patients in need of support.

In late 2023, we convened a series of meetings to explore opportunities for technology to support patient navigation. We concluded that technology, when responsibly used, holds promise to extend the reach of navigation resources to empower patients and enable navigators and other care team members to work more efficiently so they can focus on the most important part of their jobs—directly caring for their patients. However, this potential hinges on the ability of patients, navigators, and care teams to access and use the technology they need. The recent decision to allow funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program to lapse has left millions of low-income Americans with limited or no access to digital healthcare platforms such as telehealth appointments and patient portals. Sustained federal government support for broadband subsidies and infrastructure is crucial to expanding the reach of navigation using technology. We must also do a better job protecting the health information of the American people through cohesive laws and regulations that reflect the modern technology landscape. In addition, it is critical that we prioritize interoperability so that patients and their care teams have access to all of the information they need, whenever they need it.

This report outlines four priorities and our recommendations for how stakeholders from multiple sectors can support the effective and responsible use of technology to extend the reach of cancer patient navigation and improve the delivery of high-quality cancer care to all patients throughout their cancer journey.

Mr. President, your compassion and unwavering support have bolstered the entire cancer community; however, there is more work to do. Too many cancer patients and their families are left without support at a time when they need it most. This has led to disparities in cancer care and outcomes, many of which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope that you and the rest of the country will join us to create a future in which every patient has access to the care and resources they deserve.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth M. Jaffee, MD
Mitchel S. Berger, MD
Carol L. Brown, MD