Department of Health and Human Services May 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The number of cancer survivors in the United States is currently estimated at 14 million and is expected to increase significantly with the aging of the United States population. Cancer survivors may experience a host of long-term and late effects that require coordinated follow-up care after completion of primary treatment for cancer. Despite significant progress in cancer treatment, the complex, often fragmented state of end-of-treatment care may lead to harmful breakdowns in patient-provider communication and follow-up care for cancer survivors. Enabling better communication, exchange of data, and care coordination can help improve end-of-treatment consultations and care planning for cancer survivors. Innovative new approaches are needed to assist patients and their support networks use information from their providers and care plans to facilitate cancer follow-up care that is comprehensive, coordinated, and of high-quality. To address the needs of cancer survivors, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) is launching the Crowds Care for Cancer: Supporting Survivors Challenge in conjunction with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) as part of the Investing in Innovation (i2) program. This challenge aims to incentivize the development of innovative information management tools and applications that help survivors manage their transition from specialty to primary care; for example, by facilitating activities such as coordinating recommendations, appointments, and resources from patient support networks and healthcare providers involved in their care. Submissions should help survivors use information from their providers and survivorship care plans to improve communication and coordination within their care networks that can help facilitate the planning and delivery of coordinated, high-quality, and patient- centered follow-up care. These networks often include families, friends, and members of their primary and specialty care teams. The ultimate goal of this challenge is to develop applications that will better meet the needs of cancer survivors. Finalists from Phase I will garner seed funding and publicity from ONC and NCI to assist qualified entrants in developing applications ready for solicitation of additional development resources.