Statewide Effort to Improve Quality and Affordability of Cancer Care
HICOR’s Value in Cancer Care Initiative (VCCI) is a community effort to improve the quality and affordability of cancer care by engaging oncology providers, payers, health system representatives, patients and researchers to share priorities and solutions at an annual Value in Cancer Care Summit, to determine metrics for state-wide oncology performance reporting in the Community Cancer Care Report and to design and test initiatives to improve health outcomes through the Trials Expansion program.
Value in Cancer Care Summit
The Value in Cancer Care Summit brings together patients, providers, clinic administrators and staff, health system representatives, nonprofit leaders, payers, researchers, academics and industry representatives to collaborate on ways to improve the quality of cancer care while reducing costs.
The 10th Annual Value in Cancer Care Summit 2025 was held on Thursday, November 6, 2025. This year's discussion theme was Stronger Together: Reimagining Systems To Empower Patients and Clinicians. Presentations are available below:
Scott Ramsey, MD, PhD and Veena Shankaran, MD, MS
Barbara Segarra Vazquez, DHSc
Fay J Hlubocky, PhD, MA, CCFP, FASCO
Jennifer Temel, MD
Anthony Back, MD
Gwen Darien, EVP, Patient Advocacy
Dermot Fitzgibbon, MD
Julia Ruark, MD, MPH
Panel discussion.
Panel discussion.
The 8th Value in Cancer Care Summit 2023 was held on November 2, 2023. This year’s discussion theme was Achieving Quality Cancer Care In 2023 And Beyond.
Presentations:
Robin Yabroff, PhD, MBA
“Health Related Social Needs: Impact on Cancer Care and Outcomes”
Heather Cheng, MD, PhD
Scott Ramsey, MD, PhD and Veena Shankaran, MD, MS
“Cancer Care in Washington State”
Katie Treend and Rebecca Bryant
“Washington State Cancer Control Plan”
Ray Osarogiagbon, MD, MBBS, FACP
“The Mid-South Miracle: Implementing Structured Lung Cancer Care Delivery in a High-Risk Population”
Bridgette Hempstead, Jeannie Williams, Hannah Linden, MD, Nancy Davidson, MD, Paul Buckley, PhD
“Anti-Racism in Oncology Panel Discussion”
Scott Ramsey, MD, PhD and Veena Shankaran, MD, MS
“Cancer Care Delivery Brainstorm: How to Address Current Challenges”
The 7th Annual Value in Cancer Care Summit was held virtually on Monday, November 9, 2020. The 2020 Summit addressed the most important issues impacting the Cancer Care Community in 2020: COVID-19 and structural inequitites. HICOR shared preliminary analyses of the impact of COVID-19 on cancer care and reported on observations of disparities in care between commercial and Medicaid insured populations.
A presentation from the Summit is below.
Scott Ramsey, MD, PhD, Veena Shankaran, MD, MS, Christopher Chen, MD
Over 200 stakeholders, including patients, providers, payers, researchers and policy officials attended HICOR's 6th annual Value in Cancer Care Summit on May 13, 2019. The day's discussions centered around the theme of integrating the patient’s voice into community cancer care with presentations from community panels and national thought leaders. HICOR Director, Scott Ramsey, presented new analyses on disparities in cancer care and survival in Washington state.
The Hutch News Services article New data on cancer disparities in Washington summarizes key concepts and findings discussed at the summit.
Presentations from the summit are available below.
Judge Karen A. Overstreet (Ret.)
"Financial Navigation for Cancer Patients: A Community Partnership"
Patricia Deverka, MD
"Patient Partners in Research - From Concept to Practice"
Joseph Unger, PhD, MS
"Structural, Clinical, and Physician/Patient Barriers to Clinical Trial Participation"
Christopher Flowers, MD, MSc, FASCO
"Disparities in Cancer Survival"
Scott Ramsey, MD, PhD
"Mapping Cancer Care Disparities in Washington State"
Kemi M. Doll, MD, MSCR
"A Patient-Centered Approach to Cancer Equity: Building a Bridge of Engagement"
More than 200 participants gathered at Bell Harbor International Conference Center on May 3, 2018, to discuss how to “make measurement matter” in oncology. Topics included national trends and opportunities in performance measurement as well as strategies to motivate practice change in the clinic setting. HICOR director Dr. Scott Ramsey highlighted key findings from HICOR’s newly published "Community Cancer Care in Washington State" report. Selected presentations and materials from the summit are available below.
Scott Ramsey, MD, PhD
"Key Findings from HICOR’s Community Cancer Care in Washington State: Quality and Cost Report 2018"
Eve Kerr, MD, MPH
“Using Performance Measurement to Motivate Practice Change: Opportunities and Pitfalls”
Bryan Weiner, PhD
“Advancing Cancer Care Delivery Through Implementation Science”
Ronald Walters, MD, MBA, MHA
Bryan Weiner, PhD, and Sibel Blau, MD
“Culture Change in the Clinic Setting”
Bre Holt, MPH
Community Cancer Care in Washington State Report
The Community Cancer Care Report is a public report that shows clinic-level cancer care quality measures linked to cost. Featuring information on more than 25 clinics throughout Washington state, this report represents a multi-year collaborative effort with insurers, providers and patients. The report allows providers to examine regional trends and identify opportunities to improve cancer care delivery.
Questions? Please contact Karma Kreizenbeck at kkreizen@fredhutch.org.
2024 Quality and Cost Report
The 2024 Quality and Cost Report provides updated findings for quality metrics and associated costs in cancer care. The intended use of this report, and the goal of community reporting, is to examine regional trends in cancer care delivery and identify opportunities for improving cancer care. Our hope is that results shared here provide a foundation for ongoing community collaboration toward our mutual goal of high-quality cancer care for all patients in Washington state.
2024 Methodology Report
The 2024 Methodology Report is a companion document to the 2024 Quality and Cost Report that provides detailed information on how metrics were constructed, how patients are attributed to clinics and how summary quality and cost scores were calculated.
Past Reports
2023 Quality and Cost Report
The 2023 Quality and Cost Report provides new and updated findings for quality metrics and associated costs in cancer care. In response to community priorities, new measures are introduced in this edition of the report. The intended use of this report, and the goal of community reporting, is to examine regional trends in cancer care delivery and identify opportunities for improving cancer care.
2023 Methodology Report
The 2023 Methodology Report is a companion document to the 2023 Quality and Cost Report that provides detailed information on how metrics were constructed, how patients are attributed to clinics and how summary quality and cost scores were calculated.
2023 Clinic Trends Report
The 2023 Clinic Trends Report is a companion document to the 2023 Quality and Cost Report that provides clinics with a comparable set of results to see year-over-year changes in the quality measures.
2021 Community Cancer Care Report
The 2021 Report provides updated findings for quality metrics and associated costs in cancer care. This edition offers updated findings in order to examine regional trends in cancer care delivery and identify opportunities for improving cancer care while addressing its rising cost. Our hope is that results shared here provide a foundation for ongoing community collaboration toward our mutual goal of high-quality cancer care for all patients in Washington state.
2020 Medicaid Supplement
The HICOR team is pleased to present the Medicaid Supplement, a complementary report to the Community Cancer Care in Washington State: Quality and Cost Report. The Medicaid Supplement compares quality of cancer care in the Medicaid-and commercially-insured population in Washington state.
2019 Community Cancer Care Report
The 2019 report provides updated findings for quality metrics that were first reported in our 2018 report. These metrics cross the spectrum of cancer care, from initial treatment to surveillance to end of life care. HICOR believes that public reporting is the first step toward improving and achieving health care’s triple aim for cancer care – better health, better care and lower costs – by spurring collaboration, research and innovation. The intended purpose of this report is to improve care so that every cancer patient in Washington state will have access to high-quality, affordable care wherever they may be treated.
2018 Community Cancer Care Report
In 2018, HICOR published the first publicly accessible statewide report showing clinic-level quality measures linked to cost in cancer care. The report, which includes data for cancer patients covered by Washington state’s largest public and commercial insurance providers, is designed to encourage the sharing of best practices and stimulate development of innovative approaches to delivering cancer care in ways that improve the quality of care and lower costs.
The Trials Expansion Initiative is an innovative effort to make clinical trial participation more accessible to community clinics and their patients across Washington state. We are facilitating partnerships between Fred Hutch investigators and community cancer care providers to build a research program focused on improving care and the care experience to address clinic challenges and ease the treatment journey for patients.
Funding for Pilot Studies is available now.
How We Work
- Talk with clinics and other research stakeholders in Washington state to identify cancer care challenges and priorities.
- Leveraging Fred Hutch expertise and infrastructure, partner with clinics to develop research studies tailored to clinic workflow, patient population and research goals.
- Secure study funding and launch new trials within the state.
HICOR Trials Expansion Current Studies
All studies are 1-2 year feasibility pilots that will gather preliminary data to support a larger trial. DISCOVER is funded by the Andy Hill Care Fund, and PAYMENT is funded by NCI, all other pilots are funded fully by the Trials Expansion Initiative.