Dr Peter Bach on the Benefit of Bringing Stakeholders Together at PCOC15

The Patient-Centered Oncology Care meeting provides a great opportunity for stakeholders from across healthcare to get together, and when that happens very good things can come from it, according to Peter Bach, MD, MAPP, director of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's Center for Health Policy and Outcomes.

Transcript (slightly modified for readability)

What is the importance of a meeting like Patient-Centered Oncology Care?

An opportunity to get different players in the system—the cornerstones of the tent, all the stakeholders—any opportunity to get thoughtful people in a room who at some level think from their own perspectives—I'm a drug guy, or I'm a delivery guy, or insurer guy—but who also are bound together by this common goal of improving healthcare and improving the outcomes of cancer patients, those opportunities for dialogue are very important, and we see good things come from it. We see innovative models, we see partnerships come out of nowhere—around the lunch table things happen often that are unexpected because a speaker that morning spurred a discussion about something people hadn't contemplated.

I think it's a great opportunity, I think the theme of this year is a great one: this is all about patients. And I tend to think if we keep going back to that—factor for, solve for patient benefit—we'll come a lot closer to finding solutions than if we continue to all think about solve for my needs: me as provider, me as drug manufacturer, me as hospital CEO.

Learn more about Patient-Centered Oncology Care and register now.