Convening to Improve Cancer Care
HICOR’s Value in Cancer Care Initiative (VCCI) engages oncology providers, patient partners, payers, health system representatives and researchers to improve the value of cancer care delivery in Washington state. These community members contribute to HICOR’s research and oncology performance reporting initiatives through the Value in Cancer Care Summit.
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
"Stronger Together: Reimagining Systems to Empower Patients and Clinicians"
Barbara Segarra Vazquez, DHSc
"The Patient Perspective on Navigating Insurance and Care- Finding Solutions Together"
Fay J Hlubocky, PhD, MA, CCFP, FASCO
"Addressing Patient & Clinician Burnout in Oncology"
Jennifer Temel, MD
"Increasing the Accessibility of Early Palliative Care for Patients with Cancer"
Anthony Back, MD
"Hope, Prognosis, & Trust: Why the ground is shifting"
Dermot Fitzgibbon, MD
"Cancer Pain Management – Lessons Learned"
Julia Ruark, MD, MPH
"Treatment of Substance Use Disorders in Cancer Care: Challenges and Solutions"
2025 Quality and Cost Report
The 2025 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.
Dr. Eve Kerr
Drs. Nancy Davidson and Keith Eaton
VCC attendees chat during the afternoon break.
Bryan Weiner, Ph.D.
Bridgette Hempstead and Diane Mapes discussing patient perspectives
Marilyn Birchman, R.N.
Dr. Scott Ramsey
Drs. Sibel Blau, Jennie Crews and Ted Conklin
Carla Tardif, Ted Conklin, Barry Straube and Jeffery Ward
Dr. Eve Kerr
Drs. Nancy Davidson and Keith Eaton
VCC attendees chat during the afternoon break.
Bryan Weiner, Ph.D.
Bridgette Hempstead and Diane Mapes discussing patient perspectives
Marilyn Birchman, R.N.
Dr. Scott Ramsey
Drs. Sibel Blau, Jennie Crews and Ted Conklin
Carla Tardif, Ted Conklin, Barry Straube and Jeffery Ward
Previous Summits
See below for a description of the most recent Value in Cancer Care Summits, along with selected presentations and materials.
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.
Presentations from the Summit are available below.
Scott Ramsey, M.D., Ph.D., Veena Shankaran, M.D., M.S., Christopher Chen, M.D.
"Perspectives on Cancer Care in Washington State: Structural Inequities in Care Delivery and Impact of COVID-19"
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, M.D.
"Patient Partners in Research - From Concept to Practice"
Joseph Unger, Ph.D., M.S.
"Structural, Clinical, and Physician/Patient Barriers to Clinical Trial Participation"
Christopher Flowers, M.D., M.Sc., FASCO
"Disparities in Cancer Survival"
Scott Ramsey, M.D., Ph.D.
"Mapping Cancer Care Disparities in Washington State"
Kemi M. Doll, M.D., 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, M.D., Ph.D.
"Key Findings from HICOR’s Community Cancer Care in Washington State: Quality and Cost Report 2018"
Eve Kerr, M.D., M.P.H.
“Using Performance Measurement to Motivate Practice Change: Opportunities and Pitfalls”
Bryan Weiner, Ph.D.
“Advancing Cancer Care Delivery Through Implementation Science”
Value Based Reimbursement Report
Ronald Walters, M.D., M.B.A., M.H.A.
Culture Change in the Clinic Setting
Bryan Weiner, Ph.D., and Sibel Blau, M.D.
“Culture Change in the Clinic Setting”