Journey Forward

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield/Anthem Blue Cross

Cancer is now being recognized as a chronic disease with need for multi-modality, comprehensive care. Such care is frequently missing, and cancer patients often get "lost in the transition" from being patients with acute diseases to ones with chronic diseases. Journey Forward is a program created by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield (Anthem BCBS), UCLA's Cancer Survivorship Center, the National Coalition of Cancer Survivorship and Genetech, based on recommendations from a 2005 IOM report, that is dedicated to improving follow-up care and monitoring of these patients.

Journey Forward promotes Survivorship Care Plans. It was developed using a series of focus groups with cancer survivors, interviews with providers (e.g., oncologists, nurse practitioners, primary care physicians [PCPs]) who care for patients with breast or colon cancer, and interviews and meetings with key opinion leaders from national organizations. Using information from these groups and interviews, Anthem BCBS developed toolkits for oncologists and patients as well as mailers for PCPs. Anthem BCBS collaborated with UCLA's Cancer Survivorship Center, The National Coalition of Cancer Survivorship and Genentech to create hardcopy and electronic tools to educate their clientele. The program was initially made available to physicians and members through Anthem BCBS's Plans in California, Colorado, Nevada, Maine and New Hampshire. Each Plan subsequently marketed the pilot to its physicians and members.

The Web site, www.journeyforward.org, is especially useful because it houses all survivorship materials in one place and is available to the public, not just to Anthem BCBS's enrollees.

Since the inception of the program in 2006, Anthem BCBS has done annual provider satisfaction surveys to determine how comfortable PCPs are in caring for cancer survivors. PCPs have become more comfortable over time in their care of these patients and view the reports they receive describing the course of the cancer treatment, as well as recommended care of these patients going forward, as particularly valuable.

This program is well-designed and targets an important area often ignored — the need for assistance for those consumers experiencing the complicated journey after active cancer treatment ends.

Program Contact: Jennifer Hausman, MPH, Clinical Research Manager, 818.234.6154, Jennifer.hausman@wellpoint.com