Dr Debra Patt to Discuss Applied Informatics in Oncology as COA Meeting Goes Virtual

The 2020 Community Oncology Conference, hosted by the Community Oncology Alliance (COA), will take place virtually on April 23 and April 24. The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®) is bringing you a series of previews so you can learn more about what to expect when you attend this virtual meeting. In this interview we speak with Debra Patt, MD, MPH, MBA, executive vice president of policy and strategy at Texas Oncology, who is presenting on applied informatics in oncology at the virtual meeting. The conversation below, recorded for Managed Care Cast, has been lightly edited for clarity.

Dr. Patt: My name is Dr. Debra Patt, and I'm the vice president of Texas Oncology. I'm a breast cancer specialist in Texas. I'm very excited about the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) meeting. I sit on the COA board, and at the COA meeting, we'll talk about all the pertinent topics for community oncology, everything from the policies that are changing the world of cancer care, to treatments that are new and novel that we need to bring to our clinics, and how patients and other administrators can advocate for and manage change.

AJMC®: Can you give an overview about your session on the applied informatics in oncology?

Dr. Patt: My session at the Community Oncology Alliance conference is on applied informatics in oncology and how we use informatics as solutions in cancer care. We'll talk about telemedicine and how it's navigating through the crisis of Coronavirus, keeping cancer patients on treatment close to their homes. We'll talk about some of the informatics solutions and clinical decision support to help us support patients getting the care that they need, based at the point of care. We'll talk about how we can use tools and informatics to predict the outcome of patients and how that influences their care delivery. These novel changes are critically important in community oncology and for cancer patients getting the best care they can close to their home. I hope that everyone registers for the COA annual meeting. I think it's going to be great. COA has really risen to the occasion to do a virtual meeting for everyone. It's an important way that we share information and continue to make progress in cancer care close to home.

AJMC®: Great, thank you so much. We really appreciate you taking time to speak with us.

To see or hear other previews and to read the COA coverage as it happens, visit our conference page.