Cancer Patients Now Have Access to Comprehensive Oncology Care Guide

Source: Press Release

Plainsboro, NJ// Feb. 3, 2010 – Patients with cancer face physical, mental, financial, and emotional challenges. A new, comprehensive resource guide from Intellisphere’s Oncology Specialty Group—the Support and Assistance Guide for Cancer Patients—aims to help patients navigate each of these challenges.

The Guide compiles resources for nearly every aspect of care and support need oncology patients face, and it includes the following key sections:

• “The Guide to Financial Assistance” lists charitable organizations that assist with basic household expenses, medical costs, and housing and transportation needs for patients receiving treatment away from home. Some of the resources are dedicated specifically to helping uninsured patients afford medical care and underinsured patients afford medical supplies and drug expenses not covered by insurance. Others offer college scholarships for cancer survivors or grant the last wish of a terminally ill child.

• The “Online Resource Guide” describes nonprofit groups that advocate on behalf of patients with cancer or address non-financial concerns, like coping and staying employed. Many provide information on diagnosis and treatment of specific types of cancer, match patients to clinical trials, or host online communities where patients, survivors, and their families and caregivers can share their experiences. Several offer toll-free hotlines for patients in crisis.

• The “Drug Resources” section comprises fact sheets for an A-to-Z list of common drugs used to treat cancer and their approved uses, provides a brief description of how each drug works, and outlines Patient Assistance Programs offered by the drug’s manufacturer to help ensure that underinsured or uninsured patients have access to the appropriate treatment.

“A cancer diagnosis is tough to deal with on so many levels, so a resource that truly helps patients navigate every aspect of their care fills a vast need for oncology patients,” said Peter Ciszewski, President of Intellisphere’s Oncology Division. “We believe this resource will also be of tremendous value to oncologists, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals in their efforts to provide patients with the best of the best resources at their disposal.”

The Support and Assistance Guide for Cancer Patients was mailed recently to readers of Oncology Net Guide, OncNurse, Pharmacy Times, and MD Net Guide. Christin Melton, an editor with Intellisphere, says she receives daily calls from pharmacists, social workers, hospital directors, patients, nurses, radiologists, and physicians from across the country praising the Guide and asking for additional copies. “We are delighted at the overwhelming response to the Guide,” says Melton. “A lot of people are surprised that there is no charge for copies, but our goal is to help connect as many patients as possible with the resources they need.”

Oncology professionals and others who work with people who have cancer consider the Guide a valuable tool for patients. A leader of a Florida breast cancer support group wrote, “Newly diagnosed/treated patients often show up at our meetings in fairly serious mental and financial turmoil. What we liked about the booklet was its extensive list of resources. Anybody who felt she might be drowning would certainly feel she had been handed a lifeline to see that there are so many resources available.” Another requestor called it “one of the most concise and helpful booklets I’ve ever seen for helping cancer patients receive assistance.”

In addition to fulfilling individual requests, the Intellisphere Oncology Specialty Group plans to mail 100 copies to all 41 NCI-designated National Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the United States, to the 80-plus advocacy groups highlighted in the publication, and to several other cancer treatment centers across the United States. Ciszewski said his group plans to update the Guide and redistribute it to readers at the end of the year, with the ultimate aim of making it an annual endeavor.

To receive copies of the Guide in print or PDF form, e-mail your request to the Intellisphere Oncology Specialty Group at cmelton@onclive.com or call Christin Melton or Jason Broderick at (609) 716-7777.

About Intellisphere
Intellisphere is a leading provider of healthcare publishing, research, information, and education for the medical industry. Operating within both traditional and digital media channels that support the dissemination of relevant content on healthcare technology and clinical research, our company serves the needs of hundreds of thousands of general practitioners, specialists, nurses, pharmacists, and managed care professionals through an extensive suite of magazines, journals, e-mail databases, websites, events, and personal meetings.

With publications such as Oncology & Biotech News, Oncology Net Guide, Contemporary Oncology, Oncology Net Guide: Nurses’ Edition, The American Journal of Managed Care, Pharmacy Times, MDNG, and HCPlive.com as part of the publishing group, Intellisphere reaches more than a half million healthcare professionals across nearly all segments of care.