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A Message from Our CEO: Fighting for Our Practice Partners’ Financial Survival in 2022

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As the sun sets on another year dominated by an evolving and unprecedented global pandemic, we find ourselves on the threshold of what promises to be another year of familiar challenges. To address them, American Oncology Network (AON) will leverage the many lessons learned from our experiences clearing the hurdles presented by 2021 while maintaining focus on our primary mission of ensuring our partner practices can continue providing patients with top-quality care.

In fact, despite the ongoing challenges of COVID-19 and the changes it has necessitated to the practice of oncology and the healthcare industry, AON realized several milestones over the past year. We’ve grown to more than 100 physicians in 16 states and expanded both the clinical trials underway within AON sites and the volume of non-oncology infusion services offered by many of our practice partners.

These are just a few of the ways AON is continuing to help keep community oncology viable so that patients have access to affordable yet high-quality care close to home – a commitment that takes on greater significance as we gear up for another battle against a round of cuts to Medicare physician reimbursements that will take place in the spring without additional action by Congress.

Cuts Delayed, But Not Gone

While recent action by Congress has given providers a reprieve from what would have been financially devastating reimbursement cuts totaling 9.75%, it could be short-lived. That’s because the legislation passed in mid-December only extends until April a moratorium on the 2% Medicare sequestration relief originally mandated by the Budget Control Act of 2011 and in effect since 2013 – cuts that had already been delayed three times due to the pandemic. A 1% sequestration cut (which will impact both Traditional and Managed Medicare) will be in effect from April thru June 2022 with 2% going into effect the remainder of the calendar year.

The package, which is now with President Biden, also prevents a 4% cut due to statutory budget rules known as “PAYGO,” which require Congress to pass legislation in a deficit-neutral manner or automatic sequestration is triggered at the end of the year. It also offsets a rate cut finalized in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule from November that was originally slated to happen due to the expiration of a temporary across-the-board increase previously authorized to partially offset cuts triggered by the 2021 MPFS Final Rule.

It’s important to note that the fight is not limited to the pay cuts. Should the temporary rate increase to lessen the blow of the 2021 MPFS Final Rule be allowed to expire, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will factor that into the conversion factor as outlined in the 2022 MPFS proposed rule lowering reimbursement by 3.75%. Further, the 2022 Medicare Hospital Outpatient Payment System and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payments Systems (HOPPS) proposed rule included the mandatory Radiation Oncology Model (ROM) would lower physician reimbursement rates and create uncertainties that will negatively impact providers and patients.

A Voice for Community Oncology

While the current delay is certainly reason to celebrate, the fight is far from over. AON will continue to do everything in our power to ensure the voice of community oncology is heard in the push for Congress to take action to prevent what will be a devastating 9.75% cut in Medicare physician pay from taking effect in April.

We encourage practice leaders, physicians, and the entire AON provider network to join us by contacting their senators and requesting that the necessary action be taken to protect reimbursement rates. Addresses and phone numbers can be found here.

Winning this fight will protect community practices from a potentially devastating financial blow that could have long-term implications for the scope of care they’re able to provide to their patients.

COVID Pandemic Has Negative Impact on Cancer Care

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According to a national study conducted by Avalere Health and published in the November 2020 issue of the journal JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on cancer care with a decline in screenings, diagnosis and treatments — problems that could lead to an increase in cancer morbidity and mortality for years to come.

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The Dawn of a New Year: A Message from Our President & COO

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As we usher in the New Year, I wanted to take this opportunity to look back on what was one of the most challenging years on record. COVID-19 claimed hundreds of thousands of lives in 2020 and took an emotional, physical, and financial toll on countless others worldwide—and we are not out of the woods yet even with vaccinations underway.

The pandemic has also had a catastrophic effect on cancer care and research. Over the past year, fewer patients scheduled office visits, screenings, biopsies and even surgeries because they feared COVID-19 exposure. It’s an alarming and potentially deadly trend. By causing a decrease and delay in identifying new cancers or discovering new forms of treatment, these pandemic-generated care gaps could accelerate cancer mortality rates for many years.

At American Oncology Network (AON), dealing with the fallout from COVID-19 while providing our patients with top-quality care is one of the many challenges we continue working to overcome in 2021.

Working Through the Pandemic

According to a recent study in JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics, when the pandemic hit its peak in April, screenings for breast cancer (85%), colon cancer (75%), prostate cancer (74%) and lung cancer (56%) sharply decreased from where they were in 2019. And even though stay-at-home orders were lifted (in some cases temporarily) throughout most of the country, the study also reported that fewer patients are having surgery, receiving treatment and scheduling critical follow-up appointments for existing cancers.

This dip in office visits not only has an adverse effect on patients who were undergoing treatment prior to the pandemic, but it also leads to fewer cancer diagnoses—cancers that will eventually be diagnosed at a later stage and require more complex care. Late-stage diagnoses often lessen the chances for a cure, which drives up mortality rates.

While the presence of COVID-19 continues, AON is working with the practices in our network to remind patients to stay on top of their appointments and screenings. Our practices offer telehealth, allowing patients to meet with their providers from the comfort of home.

We also have in place exceptional safety protocols. Days after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic in March, we assembled an emergency task force to identify and monitor protective measures and supplied our clinics and staff with copious amounts of personal protection equipment (PPE) and appropriate cleaning products, thereby ensuring patients who had to come to our clinics could do so safely. And we continue to perform daily temperature screenings on patients and employees across all our locations.

Vaccines will bring us some relief in 2021. But AON will continue to do all we can to prevent and mitigate the spread of COVID-19 to keep our patients safe while getting the care they need and deserve.

Fighting for Our Patients and Practices

We are doing everything in our power to ensure our patients have access to the great care and medications provided by our practices. To that end, we are working with our public policy partners and the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) to put a stop to the Most Favored Nation (MFN) Model announced by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

In accordance with the MFN, Medicare will reimburse only the 38 most used drugs in oncology at a rate below the average sale price. According to COA, these include mainstay breast, lung and prostate cancer drugs, as well as the latest cutting-edge immunotherapies that have had significant results in improving survival rates. The rate will continue to decrease over a five-year period until it hits MFN price — which, according to COA, will be so low that clinics will have to send patients to 340B hospitals for treatment.

One recent study shows that, under the MFN model, out-of-pocket drug costs will be lowered for less than 1% of Medicare beneficiaries. According to COA, CMS estimates that in the first year of the MFN, 20% of seniors will be required to find new oncologists and treatment and nearly half of those will forgo treatment. By 2023, 30% of Medicare seniors may be displaced with 1 in 5 not getting treated.

It appears, however, the MFN may not come to pass. The U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. is in the process of hearing COA’s complaint, as well as a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction that have been filed to delay the measure’s implementation.  

Medicare Reimbursement Sequestration

Because of the extensive financial burden placed on patients and clinics by the COVID-19 pandemic, we are also fighting against the extension of the Sequestration on Medicare Reimbursement, which is part of The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Extending these 2% cuts, which were enacted by Congress in 2013, will drive up costs for both patients and clinics across the country and no doubt lead to more harmful lapses in care.

The moratorium began on May 1, 2020 and was set to expire on December 31, 2020. Because of the ongoing pandemic, however, it has been extended through March 31, and the 2% Medicare cuts will not be applied in the first quarter of this year.

Despite these challenges, AON’s top priority for 2021 and beyond will always be our patients. We and our participating practices vow to continue to do what we do best — provide top-quality cancer care to patients right in their own backyard.

The Benefits of Working at American Oncology Network

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A career in oncology offers all sorts of rewards. But working at American Oncology Network (AON) or one of its partner practices offers employees more than most. Not only do we offer competitive salaries and excellent benefit packages within a welcoming and nurturing workplace, but we are a network of community-based practices that allows our staff to grow familiar with the patients they see on a regular basis.

If you are looking to start or advance your career in healthcare, AON should be a top consideration.

The AON Advantage

Work-life balance is a priority at AON. While our employees work hard providing our patients with the best care and treatment possible, we stress the importance of maintaining a work-life balance to rejuvenate and spend quality time with family and friends.

Being part of a community-based practice lets members of our clinical staff establish relationships with patients and stay by their side throughout treatment. Not only does this help our nurses and physicians create the kind of true relationships with patients that can be difficult to achieve in other outpatient settings, but it means our patients have someone they can trust and rely on during stressful and anxious times. In fact, these relationships go beyond the care team to include our financial counselors and patient service specialists, all of whom contribute to the patient’s overall well-being.

We offer competitive total compensation packages that include comprehensive health insurance with a robust provider network. Our 401k, which offers a 100% match and investment options, is available to full-time and part-time staff members, and we feature a generous Paid Time Off (PTO) program. Further, while we encourage employees to take time off when needed, they have the opportunity at the end of the year to cash out a portion of their accrued and unused PTO.

Promoting from within is also a priority at AON, and we support our team members’ continued development through professional development programs and tuition assistance.  

Taking Care of Our Employees

Our top priority is our patients. But at AON, we understand that we can’t provide our patients with the high-quality care they have come to expect unless our employees are prioritized in the same way.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, our IT team acted quickly to enable nearly 200 employees to start working remotely and helped make Telehealth appointments a reality for our patients within four days. We ensured our clinicians and physicians on the frontline were well-protected per the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, supplying them with an abundance of personal protection equipment including masks, gloves and sanitizers, implementing daily screening and temperature checks, reconfiguring their workspace to ensure proper social distancing, and installing plexiglass dividers and sneeze guards throughout our AON offices. We extended our safety protocols, which are also aligned with CDC guidelines, to our patients by spacing appointments, requiring all patients to wear masks and screening patients for any possible COVID-19 symptoms or exposure before entering facilities, and ensuring proper social distancing by restricting visitors from accompanying patients into our clinics.

Our measures proved successful. A survey of AON team members found that their top concerns were a sense of safety and cleanliness, job security and up-to-date information. In all, more than 81% of respondents said they were satisfied with our pandemic response.

We enhanced our leave policies and provided all employees who were not participating in the company’s medical plan with affordable access to Telehealth through Teladoc, the first and largest supplier of telehealth medical consults in the country. In addition, we upgraded our EAP (employee assistance program) to ComPsych®, the worldwide leader in fully integrated EAP, behavioral health and wellness services and resources.  

Staying connected with our employees during the pandemic continued to be a high priority. From turning on our cameras during Zoom meetings to hosting virtual trivia games, boosting employee morale and engaging our teams in meaningful ways is an intentional endeavor during these unprecedented and stressful times.

Strength Through Partnership

At AON, we are a network of independent oncology practices working together as one. To that end, we host annual summits each year for physicians, nurses and operational employees, giving our staff a chance to meet and collaborate with AON peers from across the country so they can learn from and teach others how to do their jobs better or more efficiently. We also offer training opportunities to ensure practice employees keep up with the trends and fluidity of oncology so they can help our patients achieve better outcomes.

Cancer touches everyone. Being able to make a difference in the lives of those fighting this disease is something our employees at AON cherish and never take for granted — especially when they get a chance to witness a patient celebrate their final day of therapy by triumphantly ringing the bell.

If you are looking for a company that offers rewarding and fulfilling experiences and celebrates patient victories each day, AON is a great place to start or further a career in healthcare.

Why Care Coordination Is Crucial to Oncology

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Cancer is a complicated disease that takes a significant toll on patients’ physical and psychological well-being, which is why effective treatment encompasses the whole person—body, spirit and mind. Consequently, comprehensive care coordination services are fundamental to any oncology practice.

Care coordination allows the care team to focus on both the mental and physical health of its patients. For example, a nurse on the team may act as a liaison for patients throughout their cancer journey, advising on side effects and symptom management, answering questions, addressing concerns, coordinating community resources and lending an empathetic ear to help support the patient’s emotional needs—and those of caregivers.

A Team Effort

Cancer patients are going through a tumultuous and scary time, which frequently gives rise to questions about treatments and possible side effects. They want questions answered quickly but are often reluctant to call their physician. Frustrations can become exacerbated when patients who do call are forced to leave a message and wait for a return call.

Under care coordination models, patients are assigned to an RN care manager and have access to a nurse 24 hours a day, seven days a week who provides timely answers and advice, calms fears and assuages concerns. These relationships are built on trust and become an important catalyst for preventing unnecessary costs associated with inappropriate trips to the emergency room.

Robust care coordination programs also include dietitians on the patient’s team. Studies have shown that patients who maintain a stable diet while undergoing treatment are more likely to complete the course, which can be lifesaving. Dietitians are able to tailor nutritional plans for patients who, for example, have difficulty swallowing as a result of treatments for head or neck cancer or for pancreatic cancer patients who cannot digest food normally. Patients experiencing weight gain due to treatments can also lean on dietitians for help.

Care Coordination During COVID-19

As coronavirus cases continue to surge across the country, many cancer patients are understandably hesitant to leave the house—especially since they are at a high risk for the most severe aspects of the virus.

At AON, our care coordination team is addressing these very real concerns through telehealth, allowing our dietitians to continue meeting with patients without requiring them to leave their homes. The transition from face-to-face to virtual has gone very well. In fact, more patients are making appointments with dietitians now than they were before the pandemic hit.

The benefit of using telehealth to reach our patients is two-fold. It allows patients to meet with members of their care coordination team from the safety of their own home, and it keeps them connected to people they trust and can rely on during an incredibly stressful and fearful time. The COVID-19 pandemic has been exceptionally difficult for cancer patients, so it is important for them to know that their care is here for them even if we can’t meet physically.

How A Network Can Help

A lot of work is involved in the implementation of a care coordination program and some independent practices may not have the manpower or bandwidth to accomplish it properly.

For practices that partner with AON, a care coordination program is already established for patients who qualify for the Oncology Care Model. Our network’s care management department also offers a variety of support activities, such as refilling medications, meet-and-greet phone calls to new patients to gather information for their clinical team, and managing paperwork. The result is an unprecedented level of care that doesn’t require a practice to add staff or increase costs. With AON alleviating much of the administrative burden, it also allows the practice to focus on its top priority: the patients.

AON also offers an app-based support portal for nurses and dietitians that helps them quickly locate providers of almost any resource they need in their surrounding community. We are currently working on building one that will give patients access to AON’s robust database of resources and community-based services such as housing and assisted living, nutrition, food support, respite care, financial assistance and transportation services.

Treating cancer involves treating the whole patient. A care coordination program enhances a practice’s ability to do so.

Taking Care of Employees During COVID-19

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At American Oncology Network (AON), patients are our top priority. We want to provide them with the best care possible throughout what is often the most stressful and scariest time of their life – and it is our physicians, nurses and employees that make that possible. That is why we strive to keep our team happy and safe, which currently means confronting the enormous challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Treating cancer patients is an incredibly essential service, and care continuity is a priority even in the face of COVID-19. Being there for our patients requires us to also be there for our employees by elevating internal wellness strategies.

Putting Safety First

Just days after the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic, AON had assembled an emergency task force to map out a plan for keeping doctors, nurses and employees safe while still providing high-quality care to our patients, many of whom needed to continue receiving treatment.

The majority of our administrative employees transitioned to working remotely from home, armed with all the resources they needed to help create a secure, office-like environment. Our IT team accomplished this feat in about a week, and the outcome has proven positive: staff members who are telecommuting have maintained their normal levels of productivity with few exceptions.

The IT team also launched Telehealth services across all AON sites with over 5,200 telehealth visits completed since going live. This virtual care solution played a vital role in mitigating the spread of COVID-19 and keeping our providers, employees and patients safe.

For employees such as nurse practitioners who are patient-facing and therefore unable to work from home, safety was crucial to our strategy. In addition to providing sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves, gowns and masks, we also conducted training on proper handling and use.

AON also adheres to the social distancing guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Among these are spacing out appointment times and infusion chairs and screening all patients via questions on how they’re feeling, whether they have any COVID-like symptoms, where they’ve recently traveled, and if they’ve been exposed to anyone infected with the virus. In addition, employees are screened and their temperatures checked at the beginning and end of every shift. In addition to our daily cleaning services, our clinics also go through a deep clean once a week.

Because of our efficiency and ability to supply doctors, nurses and employees with the resources they need to be both safe and productive, AON was able to respond quickly to the pandemic and continue caring for our patients without interruption.

Supporting Our Staff

The COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented and has been a challenging experience for everyone. We opted to modify our benefit offerings to include 10 days of paid emergency sick leave (ESL) to any full or part-time, and PRN employee who needs to be quarantined or who is caring for a loved one who has been infected with the virus. This provision is in addition to our regular leave policy and allows employees to receive their full pay either intermittently or continuously. We also offer an advance of up to 40 hours of paid time off (PTO) for anyone who runs out of ESL, and all employees have access to the Teladoc service through to the end of December regardless of their participation in the AON medical plan. In addition, employees enrolled in the medical plan will see 100% coverage of any COVID-19-related expenses that employees may incur, such as testing and co-pays.

We are aware the pandemic has created challenges that extend far beyond the workplace. With schools and most summer camps closed, AON is especially sensitive to employees with small children. We strive to be flexible and nimble with their schedules and are taking extra steps by compiling important information on childcare and other family-focused services. Emotional crisis support is also available to all employees regardless of whether they participate in AON’s benefits program.

To boost morale, our managers have come up with fun, creative activities such as virtual celebrations and trivia games for employees who are telecommuting. At our clinic in Baton Rouge, La., employees swapped recipes and created an e-cookbook that also features contributions from other practices in the AON network. We’ve also supplied lunch for employees who aren’t able to work from home.

Safe, Happy Employees

AON recently surveyed employees to gauge the effectiveness of our COVID-19 provisions. The results were extremely positive – 81% were satisfied with our pandemic response and 87% were confident AON has taken the right precautions to minimize the impact of COVID-19. Additionally, 85% of employees working remotely said they had the necessary resources to maintain productivity.

At AON, our team members are heroes who have stepped up in times of crisis. It is up to us to make sure they are safe, comfortable and appreciated so they can continue carrying out the essential job of providing optimal care to our patients.

Addressing Oncology Care Continuity During a Public Health Crisis

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Crisis situations often call for creative solutions in healthcare and lean on the true strength of provider-patient relationships. While the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic is experienced across all walks of life, those with chronic or life-altering illnesses face unique challenges.

Care delivery for these patients cannot be put on hold. When dealing with a health crisis of such monumental proportions, oncology practices must identify ways of keeping patients safe and on track to achieve optimal outcomes. For cancer patients, the best approach ensures the full spectrum of care is addressed, including treatment, nutritional and emotional support.

Rolling with the Changes

Amid stay-at-home and social distancing orders, oncology practices remain essential and cannot simply shut their doors. Instead, providers need to adapt the way they run their practice while still maintaining continuity of care.

Our providers at American Oncology Network (AON) have deferred non-critical visits, such as six-month and annual follow-ups, but are continuing to see patients who are undergoing treatment or are newly diagnosed. In addition, we check with patients prior to each visit to determine if they are experiencing any symptoms associated with the virus – such as fever, cough, shortness of breath – and require they wear a mask to their appointment. One AON practice in Columbus, Ohio, screens patients for symptoms in a tent outside their facility before allowing them inside. All staff members have their temperatures taken daily, before and after each shift, and non-essential visitors are required to wait outside the clinic.

Amid industry shortages, our procurement team has done a tremendous job of ensuring our practices have the supplies they need to keep their facilities clean to ensure the safety of our patients – even going “old school” to overcome the lack of pre-packaged disinfectant wipes by utilizing paper towels and  FDA approved cleaning solvents.

The Rise of Telehealth

Telehealth, which allows patients and physicians to communicate through videoconferencing, is experiencing a significant surge in utilization – not only because the COVID-19 pandemic has made it a necessity to conduct patient appointments remotely, but also because the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has relaxed reimbursement requirements, with many commercial plans following suit. Telehealth is expected to remain popular even after the pandemic is gone.

Our physicians understand the benefits of developing personal relationships with each of their patients, which typically begin with a face-to-face visit. Over time, however, as the bond between doctor and patient grows stronger, telehealth may become a very viable alternative where appropriate. This current health crisis has simply accelerated its acceptance and adoption. And while there are some long-term issues to figure out, the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that telehealth is essential to maintaining patient access to high-quality care.

Unfortunately, as could be expected, many small, independent community practices lack the IT expertise, bandwidth or technology to implement telehealth quickly enough to effectively serve their patients. Thankfully, because of the existing infrastructure and technical expertise at AON our growing network of more than 130 providers was able to offer virtual appointments via telehealth to their patients within a span of four days and all locations are conducting these types of appointments daily.

Compassionate and Patient-centric

While telehealth has become an essential part of practicing medicine, our practices haven’t lost sight of the emotional needs and mental health of our patients. AON addresses this through triage nurses and social workers proactively reaching out to patients suffering from depression or struggling with the isolation that comes with the current social distancing measures.

I cannot stress enough, especially under these circumstances, the importance of why we are in this business – to provide our patients with the best care possible.

Our patients are at the center of everything we do and every decision we make. Now, they need us more than ever. We are taking every possible step to continue providing exceptional care, safely and compassionately.

Drivers and Key Criteria for Successful Telehealth Programs

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The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought telehealth and telemedicine to the forefront of the American healthcare industry. Through laptops, tablets and a host of other devices, telehealth allows physicians to examine and diagnose their patients remotely to comply with current social distancing guidelines and combat the spread of this highly contagious and deadly virus.

Even before COVID-19 made its way to the United States, the American Oncology Network (AON) was advancing use of telehealth as an effective element of its care management services, using video conferencing to connect patients with nutritionists. This has proved beneficial for our practices who now need to ramp up telehealth systems quickly in response to the pandemic to ensure continuity of care and optimal safety for their patients.  

Strong systems that are easy to use and can adapt quickly to change are crucial to the design of successful telehealth programs, especially at a time when demand is at an all-time high.

Ramping Up Quickly

Implementing an effective telehealth system is a complex, resource-intensive undertaking. It’s a cross-functional effort requiring clinical, operational and technical teams to work together to prepare technologies, workflows and staffing models. Proper codes must be added, financial teams brought up to speed and staff trained on electronic medical records (EMR) and telehealth platforms. It can take weeks or months – and prove quite costly – for the average private practice. In addition, small, independent practices rarely employ full-time IT or security staff, necessitating help from outside professionals who are not likely to be familiar with oncology. This not only increases costs, but also lengthens implementation time.

However, AON providers were able to rapidly start treating their patients, drawing on our team’s expertise and scalable system designs. As demand for telehealth skyrocketed, we quickly identified an appropriate vendor, wrapped up the paperwork and helped our practices onboard the new system in less than 20 hours. After four days of training, our provider groups were seeing patients. So far, they have amassed 2,717 virtual visits – and counting.

In addition, practice administrators and providers have peace of mind knowing that our security experts are aligning systems with the latest best practices and can address potential issues in hours rather than days.

Keeping it Simple

When it came to choosing a telehealth solution, AON wanted a partner that was flexible, scalable and could adapt very quickly to change. Most importantly, we wanted to keep the system simple for physicians and their patients.

On the physician side, it was important that the solution offer streamlined navigation so providers could fire up their device and be on time for scheduled appointments. For patients, we wanted to minimize effort and resource requirements. As such, any device – laptop, cellphone, tablet, etc. – equipped with a camera and microphone allows them to log on and speak with their physician. Our systems do not require installation of any additional programs or apps – we simply send patients a link that runs natively in a browser, making telehealth easy and accessible for everyone to use, no matter how savvy they are when it comes to technology.

Customers Come First

The strength of AON isn’t just our systems, but the customer-first approach that drives our IT department. That’s why we were able to shift gears so quickly to handle the swift changes brought about by COVID-19, and why we were able to train more than 130 physicians and mid-level providers in one weekend, rather than our normal load of about 10 providers over the course of a week. Nursing professionals and social workers have since been added to training, expanding the spectrum of possible telehealth services.

We have providers of all different stripes when it comes to technology proficiency – and it doesn’t matter. AON is here to equip our practices with whatever they need, whether that means installing cameras or enabling secure online meetings.

While telehealth has its limits – physicians can’t physically examine their patients – the COVID-19 pandemic has underscored its effectiveness at supporting certain care processes. However, to be successful, a telehealth system must be implemented with patients and providers at the forefront, and it needs to be able to adapt to change. In preparation for expected surges in patients and the future of healthcare, oncology practices are wise to consider a strong partner to help guide the telehealth process.