In 2013, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) concluded that cancer care in the United States is in crisis. Patients and their families are not receiving the information that they need to make informed decisions about their cancer care. The IOM's report, Delivering High-Quality Cancer Care: Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis, outlined recommendations to improve the quality of cancer care.
Larissa Nekhlyudov, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, who was a member of the IOM panel, published two articles recently. First, in the CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, she and her colleagues provide an overview of the IOM report and highlight the recommendations that are most relevant to practicing clinicians who care for patients with cancer across the continuum.
Since general internists play a critical role in the care of cancer patients, in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, she and her co-author focus on those recommendations that are particularly pertinent to the general internist and outline clinical, research and educational opportunities where general internists should take an expanded role.