Addressing the American Health-Care Cost Crisis: Role of the Oncology Community

Health-care cost growth is unsustainable, and the current level of spending is harming our economy and our patients. This commentary describes the scope of the health-care spending problem and the particular factors in cancer care that contribute to the problem, reflecting in part presentations and discussions from an Institute of Medicine National Cancer Policy Forum Workshop held in October 2012. Presenters at the workshop identified a number of steps that the oncology community can take to reduce the rate of growth in cancer-care costs while maintaining or improving upon the quality of care. This commentary aims to highlight opportunities for the oncology community to take a leadership role in delivering affordable, high-quality cancer care.