How Cancer Care Direct Supports Patients on Every Step of Their Journey

For many people with cancer, everything about the experience is complicated.  

After receiving some of the most difficult news of your life, you soon meet a plethora of doctors, nurses and hospital staff you’ve never interacted with before.  

You're given treatment options to parse and challenging decisions to make—and often fast. One doctor may recommend you travel for care, leaving you scrambling to make arrangements at home. Some might recommend you start treatment immediately. Does this mean you have to move as quickly as possible, or is there time to get a second opinion? 

Then there's paying for care. Will insurance cover the doctors you find and the treatment plan they recommend? And will you be able to afford the out-of-pocket max you’ll inevitably hit? 

Even though most of us have known someone with cancer, that doesn't mean anyone knows what to expect.  

When my father had cancer, he received the right care but little guidance. Treatments can have 15 to 20 possible side effects and while you get advice on how to manage them, it often goes in one ear and out the other. Around 50% of cancer patients end up in the ER at least once after a diagnosis, many in response to these side effects. Often patients are only warned about what to expect soon after diagnosis, when it’s difficult to absorb any additional information.  

One in five of those ER visits turns into an inpatient hospital stay, resulting in more time away from family and work.  

We created Cancer Care Direct to disrupt this paradigm. We pair patients with an experienced oncology nurse to serve as their dedicated advocate, so they have one person to turn to who can look at their care holistically.  

Our nurses explain treatment plans, discuss side effects, help members find care close to home and stay on the phone with insurance companies as long as it takes. For those facing rare or complex cancers, we have relationships with major National Cancer Institutes to get our members into appointments within just 10 days.     

I heard a member call their nurse their “invisible friend.” The support they provide outside of care navigation is crucial, too. One of our nurses recently helped a member find a dog sitter while he was receiving treatment a few hours from home. Sometimes, it’s simply a listening ear. 

A cancer diagnosis is one of the hardest experiences someone can go through. Having support at your side—an invisible friend—makes every step at least a little easier. I’m so proud of the work our oncology nurses do each day to provide compassionate support to people (and their families) at their most vulnerable.