With three locations in Louisiana, Hematology Oncology Clinic (HOC) has been treating cancer patients in Baton Rouge and the surrounding communities for more than 30 years. This community-based clinic emphasizes personal, affordable care where physicians and nurse practitioners establish trust through creating relationships with their patients as well as the patients’ families and caregivers.

The practice’s staff includes six physicians along with five advanced practitioners, oncology certified registered nurses and licensed practical nurses. HOC provides access to innovative clinical trials, home delivery of oral cancer medications from a specialty, in-house pharmacy, timely labs and pathology reports, and on-site infusion therapy. HOC also offers comprehensive supportive care such as 24/7 access to care management, nutrition counseling and much more.

Diagnostic and therapeutic advances have led to increased cancer survival and remission rates as well as a higher quality of life. But they have also contributed to what can often be exorbitant costs for treatment, particularly when it is delivered in a hospital setting. The physicians at HOC caught a glimpse of this when they entered the practice into a partnership with a local hospital. While the relationship facilitated access to ancillary services such as radiation, radiology, and pathology/lab for the practice’s patients, and also helped develop service lines for specific cancer subtypes, they came at too high a price.