Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to Your Questions About Oncology Consulting and Cancer Center Planning.

Why would my institution use, or need, an outside consulting firm?

An outside consultant can bring immediate value to your hospital or cancer program. Your institution can hire an outside consultant to:

Bring strategic planning or financial feasibility expertise that supplements institutional talent efficiently – no existing staff member has to wear yet another hat
To obtain oncology service line expertise and metrics benchmarks that your hospital does not have on hand
To see the situation through fresh, unaligned eyes, without filter or preconceived opinions or loyalties
To gain speed and efficiency in identifying effective strategies & actions, as well as creating an implementation timetable
To enable all stakeholders to fully participate in the planning process, without an internal professional also having to serve as the facilitator or coordinator
Enable your staff to ask the right questions without fear of internal repercussions

Who would lead our strategic planning engagement?

The Oncology Group is a market-specific consulting firm dedicated to oncology services. Each project is led by a senior Project Manager, who has critical command and control authority across the consulting team. A key point of differentiation is that when you select The Oncology Group, you get senior consultants, each of whom has “walked the talk”. That is, they have served as oncology administrators in community or academic centers. The Oncology Group partners and senior consultants are not salesmen, who then punt to junior associates to fulfill your contract. We guide institutions to create an Internal Strategic Planning Committee, whose members direct and review project activities, reports, and proposed initiatives. This Internal Strategic Planning Committee ensures your local project advances in a manner customized to your unique situation and markets.

Does The Oncology Group have an “introductory” service that could result in a comprehensive review of our existing cancer program?

The Oncology Group has designed a short-term program profile and benchmarking option to inventory services and program components. This introductory service module is designed to enable a cancer program to compare and benchmark its volumes, physician demand and referral patterns, facilities and patient satisfaction with cancer programs of similar size. This brief, but thorough, diagnostic review identifies internal strengths and weaknesses, as well assessing marketplace threats and opportunities. Our introductory service can assist your staff in assessing whether it operates with an effective combination of leadership, vision, and resources. These short-term engagements can be completed in three weeks with a minimum investment from the institution. Call us to discuss the value and impact of this limited diagnostic that can culminate in a brief, but tailored cancer program development plan.

What is a Strategic Plan for a Cancer Program? How would it advance our services?

A cancer program Strategic Plan describes the program’s goals. Most strategic plans detail:

Current patient volume and referral data
Program strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
Key strategic issues (that may be internal or external, or that may form barriers to reaching future goals)
A description of the desired future (e.g. integrated patient experience, level of sub-specialization, patient volumes, geographic reach, clinical research volumes, etc.)
Strategies, tactics, and actions to reach the future goal or vision
Resources to reach and support the desired future
An implementation timetable with accountability

Can your firm help us build participation and alignment with our physicians?

Today most oncology centers are searching for successful approaches to better align their physicians with the broader cancer program direction and goals. The Oncology Group works with programs and physicians to forge creative collaborative working relationships. High performing hospitals and cancer care programs require quality teamwork – between physician specialists, among physicians and other staff members.

The Oncology Group has a track record for developing membership models in the 1990’s, and today is adept at introducing and implementing alignment options, such as Conditions of Participation, or an Institute Membership Model. Beginning with the firm’s proprietary Visioning Model (to ensure participation and buy-in to the cancer program’s priority initiatives), and following through with real-world rationale and examples of collaboration through leadership infrastructure, The Oncology Group has successfully assisted cancer programs to create a collaborative culture. Employment may not be the only answer for most programs, and we present options for private practice physicians not interested in employment. These include professional services agreements, medical directorships, MSOs, joint ventures and clinical institute models. The Oncology Group can assist your team to develop the right alignment strategy for your cancer program.

What is The Oncology Group’s approach to consulting services?

The Oncology Group works with each client’s leaders and physicians as a consulting partner. We customize our engagement to each client’s specific internal environment and leadership model. Our consultants continually monitor and update your specific metric benchmarks; no client ever receives “canned” or “boilerplate” reports. In fact, we agree with one expert who says, “If you’ve seen one cancer program, then you’ve seen one cancer program.” The Oncology Group senior consultants helped develop and expand more than 300 US cancer programs, our suggested recommendations and solutions reflect the ever-changing cancer care milieu and your institution’s resources, inner politics, and marketplace realities.

What are the outcomes of a typical The Oncology Group consulting engagement?

Our recommendations are focused on designing solutions that enable patients and their caregivers to easily navigate through the institution’s continuum of cancer care services – inpatient, outpatient (including private practices), outpatient diagnostic services, psycho-social supportive care and survivorship activities. A key outcome of the inclusive group discussion we lead is that parties come together to exchange views, air sometimes disparate solutions, and leave collaboratively designing success solutions. Our firm emphasizes data sharing (to ensure all parties are “reading from the same page”), then facilitates small group discussions that target mutual issues of concern, and are guided by a continuum of solution options from status quo through incremental changes to fundamental changes.

Can your team assist with getting NCI recognition at the community hospital level?

NCI offers targeted grants and contracts to community hospital cancer programs through several funding opportunities including the National Community Cancer Program (NCCCP) and the Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP). Federal funding is typically competitive and requires applicants to meet threshold eligibility requirements. Eligible institutions must then develop and submit detailed application proposals. The Oncology Group has a strong track record in working with its client teams to produce funded program applications. If you are interested in aligning your cancer program with NCI objectives, call us to discuss eligibility requirements and to check funding availability and deadlines.