Today, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) announced preliminary data from a study evaluating the utility of the Health Equity Report Card (HERC) tool at the American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting and Expo .
HERC was created by the Cancer Equity Collaboration of NCCN, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), and the National Minority Quality Forum (NMQF) and updated by subsequent working groups. It is designed to help healthcare providers and institutions identify and address disparities and biases in care delivery, address social determinants of health, and overcome systemic barriers to optimal care.19 features a practice assessment and recommendations for change.
All 19 recommendations in the Health Equity Report Card (HERC) are available at NCCN.org/HERC. A research summary is available on the APHA website: https://apha.confex.com/apha/2024/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/549912.
“Research clearly shows that unequal experiences and opportunities in cancer care lead to worse outcomes and shorter life expectancies for people in underserved communities,” NCCN Cancer Care said Tanille D. Carter, MA, MPA, Equity Program Manager. “HERC was originally designed as an objective approach to increasing equity in cancer care through achievable and measurable change. This initial pilot study data shows how achievable these goals really are. We are proud to announce that all participating facilities reported to implement HERC will either: to inform or reinforce.”
The Health Equity Report Card (HERC) measures a care system’s equitable practices across four areas:
Community Engagement Accessibility of Care and Social Determinants of Health Addressing Stigma in the Quality and Inclusion of Care Delivery
This pilot study focused on gathering feedback from five major academic cancer centers to assess the feasibility and usability of the HERC tool. In our pre-implementation survey, three of the five cancer centers anticipated challenges implementing the tool, but all five completed the first round of self- and third-party scoring across all domains. It was shown to have completed successfully. All facilities strongly agreed or agreed that HERC’s performance measures, metrics, and evidence sources were applicable to their facility.
These preliminary findings demonstrate the utility of HERC and highlight its potential as an innovative tool for measuring and improving equity in cancer care. We are pleased to share this initial data demonstrating how participating institutions found HERC’s performance measures relevant to their institutions. We look forward to further analysis of the data and continued feedback to further improve the usefulness of this tool. ”
Crystal S. Denlinger, MD, NCCN Chief Executive Officer
An article with full results after the initial scoring (including subsequent scores and improved scorecards) will be published in the coming months. Additional evaluations of HERC’s scoring, feedback mechanisms, and impact on cancer care are underway, including another pilot project conducted in a community cancer center setting.
The HERC pilot program at academic cancer centers is made possible through support from AbbVie Inc. 270 career. Genentech Inc.; Lilly; and Sanofi Genzyme. The HERC Community Project is part of the Alliance for Equity in Cancer Care, made possible with support from the Merck Foundation. It is also supported by a gift from Bristol-Myers Squibb. GlaxoSmithKline LLC; Lilly; and Pfizer Inc.
sauce:
National Comprehensive Cancer Network
