Milan Khealani, MD, FACP

I hear about this. This is not uncommon and it bothers me: Patient has cancer which is getting worse and causing pain Waits days for doctors appointment See the doctor. Scans ordered. But now waits days for an appointment slot to get the scans Scan is done and shows the cancer has worsened. Doctor prescribes new treatment Waits for days as insurance denies new treatment. Peer to peer call needed. Finally, treatment is approved. Waits for days again because chemotherapy appointments are backed up. Finally, the patient receives the treatment. But a month has passed. The cancer has progressed more. All of this with good private insurance. Imagine without. Oncology has advanced rapidly. Our medicines are very specialized. They require a lot of time, expertise, resources. Oncologists are stretched thin. It’s not the type of work that you can easily fill without compromising care. Many patients receive complex chemo and when there is a complication they end up without access to specialized care. We need to expand the oncology work force and limit the burnout that is causing good oncologists to leave patient care for other jobs or retire. There is no question we have made remarkable progress against cancer. And several promising new treatments are on the horizon. Will we have the resources to administer them safely and to all those who need it?