what we do

As part of the American Cancer Society's Data Science division, the Health Services Research program, led by Robin Yabroff, PhD, MPH, has these specific objectives:

Compile and analyze current scientific information on health care and cancer treatment, including access, delivery, quality, cost, and outcomes across the cancer continuum for all types of cancer, all types of care, and resulting in all types of outcomes. These studies may involve the influence of the patient and family, employers, providers, health care setting, local community, state and national health policies.

Inform efforts to improve quality of care and patient outcomes to reduce the burden of illness.

Identify critical gaps in cancer care and take leadership in policy initiatives to address these gaps.

Disseminate results of these studies to the public, media, cancer control advocates, American Cancer Society (ACS) staff and volunteers, and community leaders to accelerate the translation of existing knowledge into practice.

Contribute to the advancement of health services research through publications, conference participation, and collaborations across institutions and disciplines.

 

Key Terms

  • Cancer Care Continuum: The full scope and progression of cancer care, from promoting good health (wellness) to preventing cancer, detecting it early, diagnosing it, treating it, and surviving it.
  • Cancer Control: Organized programs that may focus on any part of the cancer care continuum with the goal of reducing the number of people who get cancer, have complications from it, and die from it. Also see What Is Cancer Control?
  • Cancer Burden: How the number of cancer cases and results of cancer affect a country, community, family, or one person. Those effects include the direct and indirect costs related to prevention, treatment, and managing complications.
  • Medicaid Expansion: The part of the Affordable Care Act that called for increasing the number of low-income people in the United States who would qualify for the health insurance coverage provided by Medicaid, a government program run by each state.

Our Work and Publications

Scientists in the American Cancer Society (ACS) Health Services Research team identify factors that can be changed to improve access to, and receipt of, affordable cancer prevention, screening, treatment, survivorship, and end-of-life care.

Financial Hardship & Economic Burden of Cancer

Please draft or point me to copy to edit Economic burden of cancer for cancer survivors and families, high cost prescription drugs, cancer health disparities associated with socioeconomic status

Please draft or point me to copy to edit Economic burden of cancer for cancer survivors and families, high cost prescription drugs, cancer health disparities associated with socioeconomic status

Health Insurance Coverage

Please draft or point me to copy to edit Impact of health insurance and the Affordable Care Act on cancer care and outcomes and health disparities; cancer health disparities associated with health insurance, health insurance benefit design, Employer benefits and insurance coverage

 

Environmental Determinants of Cancer Care Delivery

Please draft or point me to copy to edit environmental and policy determinants of cancer care delivery, access and quality, Please draft or point me to copy to edit environmental and policy determinants of cancer care delivery, access and quality,

Quality and Value of Cancer Care

Please draft or point me to copy to edit Patient, provider, health system, and geographic factors associated with quality and value of cancer care.

Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness analysis of cancer treatments, cancer survivorship research related to psychosocial distress, cancer-HIV, cancer-mental disorder comorbidities.