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Association of Community Cancer Centers president to emphasize importance of multidisciplinary care
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Mark S. Soberman, MD, MBA, FACS, medical director for the oncology service line and chief physician executive for Monocacy Health Partners at Frederick Regional Health System, took over as president of the Association of Community Cancer Centers this spring.
Soberman previously served as vice chair of the department of surgery, as well as director of the thoracic oncology and thoracic surgery sections at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. He also served as clinical associate professor of surgery at Georgetown University School of Medicine, director of the division of thoracic surgery at Georgetown University Hospital and director of thoracic surgery at Sibley Memorial Hospital.
His interest in multidisciplinary cancer care models is reflected in his presidential theme: “Envisioning next gen multidisciplinary cancer care.”
HemOnc Today spoke with Soberman about his reaction to being selected president of the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC), how his experience prepared him for this role and the priorities he hopes to address during his term.
Question: How did you react upon being selected association president?
Answer: I was honored and excited. ACCC is a wonderful organization with a great vision and wonderful membership. I was also humbled as the organization represents a very important cause — community cancer care.
Q: What excites you most about the opportunity?
A: ACCC represents such a broad group of stakeholders in cancer, and there is a good opportunity to develop a broad consensus about what is important in cancer care. We are in such a turbulent and challenging time in health care, and I think this represents a real opportunity to shape the conversation in a way that will benefit patients.
Q: How has your clinical or research experience prepared you for this role?
A: I spent the first 20 years of my career as a thoracic surgeon in an academic practice. I was director of thoracic surgery and director of the thoracic oncology program at our hospital. I was very involved in the treatment of lung and esophageal cancer, and in program development. Having a long tenure provides the right lens to be able to look at things from the eye of the physician and provider, but also provide the perspective of the patient.
Q: What priorities do you hope to address during your term?
A: Every ACCC president has the opportunity to choose a theme. One of my passions in cancer care is multidisciplinary care. Cancer care is so complex in many cases, and patients require the input of a variety of team members. Traditionally, it has been the medical oncologist, radiation oncologist and surgeon. Over the years, the team has increased to include social workers, nurse navigators and geneticists. The list of people included in the care team today will only continue to grow. For me to be able to emphasize this during my term as president is very exciting because it has been a passion of mine and a real unmet need.
Q: What do you consider the greatest challenge in oncology, and how can association members help meet that challenge?
A: Some of the biggest challenges deal with the political situation and barriers to access to health care coverage for patients with cancer. As a society, we continue to deal with how to make treatment available for these patients and how to pay for treatment. As we continue to develop more advanced, effective, specific and targeted therapies, these therapies become more expensive. We have to address this at a societal level and figure out how to tackle this at ACCC. Our plan is to be a part of this conversation and solution. We also face a shortage of physicians with our growing baby boomer population and demands on the health care system. Medical oncologists and surgeons are specific areas where we see looming shortages. ACCC can be part of the solution regarding access to care, and we can be a part of the conversation about costs and how we get patients through this hurdle. Some of our efforts related to financial advocacy and financial navigation help mitigate this for our patients. Additionally, as we work through some of our efforts in multidisciplinary care and helping our partners create networks and systems of care, I am hopeful we will mitigate some of the shortages in access to care.
Q: Is there a specific area of practice or policy in which you would like to see ACCC become more involved?
A: ACCC has a history of broad engagements in policy as it pertains to cancer care, with the patient always at the forefront. We also make sure that we advocate for providers so that they can continue to care for patients. I do not think there is a particular area in which ACCC should become more involved. We continue to be very active and engaged in advocacy and policy, representing the needs and interests of our very broad group of stakeholders when it comes to cancer.
Q: What are your expectations for the field of oncology during the next 5 to 10 years?
A: We will continue to see the development of more sophisticated targeted therapies and immunotherapies. We will continue the evolution in payment models, and I think we are going to see providers continue to adapt and change in order to deliver value for patients. We will see more of a migration toward value-based payments. In the surgical field, we are going to see continued evolution toward minimally invasive and more ambulatory-based surgical solutions. There will be more consolidation in health care, for better or worse. Providers will align more closely with health care systems because of the continued pressures of scale and of multipayment models.
Q: Is there anything else that you would like to mention?
A: I want to re-emphasize how honored and excited I am to have this opportunity to serve ACCC, and for the privilege to be able to feature one of my passions — multidisciplinary care — as the theme of the organization this year. I am grateful to be able to work with an organization that has a wonderful membership, a great mission and a wonderful staff that help leadership to be effective. – by Jennifer Southall
For more information:
Mark S. Soberman, MD, MBA, FACS, can be reach at Frederick Regional Health System, 400 W. 7th St., Frederick, MD 21701; email: msoberman@fmh.org.
Disclosure: Soberman reports no relevant financial disclosures.