Quantum Health Announces New Clinical Advisory Board to Expand Existing Cancer Care Member Journey Experience and Support

Dublin, OH, December 8, 2022 – Quantum Health, the industry’s leading healthcare navigation and care coordination company, announced today the formation of their new clinical advisory board. The board will initially focus on expanding Quantum Health’s industry-leading oncology care member journey experience to provide employers with new holistic cancer care benefits support for employees and their families dealing with the growing clinical, emotional and financial impact caused by a cancer diagnosis. Quantum Health will expand its ability to support members through their entire cancer care journey, including finding high-quality cancer care at leading cancer centers, accessing top-rated oncology providers and researchers, identifying clinical trial options in their geographic location, and financial impact and behavioral health support.

Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, and the cost and quality of cancer care are becoming major concerns for employers, particularly now, as companies brace to manage a potential wave of new cancer diagnoses, given delayed screenings during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2023 Business Group on Health Large Employer Survey found that cancer has overtaken musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions as the top cost driver, and 83% of employers indicate that cancer is among the top three conditions that drive their healthcare costs and trend. An additional study released last year by the National Cancer Institute found that the cancer-related economic burden to patients had reached over $20 billion nationally and accounted for 10% to 12% of employers’ total health spend, and they expect to see that figure reach 25% or more by 2025.

Given the unique and complex challenges of cancer diagnoses on members and the potential wave of increased cancer cases employers anticipate managing, the new Quantum Health Clinical Advisory Board will look to rapidly provide a deeper level of subject-matter expertise focused on the most challenging health conditions to guide the company in the development of new and innovative clinical solutions to better support clients and members. This team of experts will apply additional best-in-class medical perspectives, test strategic thinking, and advise on clinical care initiatives that will extend the company’s navigation and care coordination programs and empower employers to offer even more comprehensive, high-quality personalized support services for their employees undergoing challenging healthcare journeys.

“Quantum Health has developed a leading cancer care offering for our members and their families – but we can and will do more. Our vision for the Quantum Health Clinical Advisory Board is to diversify the thinking and expand our clinical expertise on initiatives that will drive substantial impact to our employer clients and their members as they navigate the growing complexities of a cancer care diagnosis journey,” said Michael Sokol, M.D., M.S., Senior Vice President of Clinical Strategy for Quantum Health. “While we are initially focused on an oncology team to better serve and support our members, given the increasing prevalence of cancer and postponed screenings during the pandemic, we are also building out industry-leading clinical expertise in other complex clinical care journeys like musculoskeletal and behavioral health.”

Quantum Health currently offers a holistic range of cancer care options with clinical, emotional and financial support for members via the company’s in-house clinical team of personal care nurses and other specialists who interact directly with physicians and healthcare providers to deliver a full continuum of care. Quantum Health’s core services support members confronting cancer with Real-Time Intercept® integration into best-in-class healthcare navigation and care coordination that includes expert benefits answers and guidance, direct communications between physician and oncology experts, nutrition and side-effects counseling, integrated behavioral health monitoring, access to educational and community resources, assistance with billing issues and medical appeals, and efficient service authorizations for treating physicians. Add-on options include expert cancer review (ECR) and personal precision oncology management (PPOM), which provide member access to nationally recognized oncology expertise from National Cancer Institute (NCI) designated comprehensive cancer centers. With these additional care options, members benefit from breakthrough research, trials and treatments, as well as genetic or genomic testing and clinical collaboration between oncology experts and treating physicians regarding members’ most effective treatment options.

Quantum Health Clinical Advisory Board Members

Founding members of the board include leading oncology experts focused on addressing the needed support in extended cancer care management. The team includes Harlan Levine, M.D., as board chair, and three leading oncologists: Kerin Adelson, M.D.; M. William Audeh, M.D., M.S.; and William A. Wood, M.D., MPH.

Advisory Board Chair, Harlan Levine, M.D.
Harlan Levine, M.D., is President of Health Innovation and Policy for City of Hope. He also serves as the board chair of AccessHope™, City of Hope’s subsidiary focused on serving the employer market and making leading-edge cancer expertise available to all, regardless of geography. Before City of Hope, Levine held executive roles at UnitedHealth Group, Towers Watson and Anthem, Inc. He currently serves as board member and secretary for BioScienceLA; member of the Keck Graduate Institute’s Board of Trustees; and board member for Vida Health, Active Life Scientific and Reimagine Care. He is on the advisory boards of Innovaccer and Laguna Health. In addition, he is a member of the Accessibility and Affordability Working Group for California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and a Senior Fellow for Health Evolution Forum’s New Models of Care Delivery. He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and licensed by the Medical Board of California. He earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard College and his medical degree from the University of California San Francisco. He interned at Mount Zion Hospital and Medical Center in San Francisco and completed his residency in internal medicine at Cedars-Sinai Health System in Los Angeles.

Kerin Adelson, M.D., is a practicing breast cancer oncologist and serves as Chief Quality Officer and Deputy Chief Medical Officer at Smilow Cancer Hospital and Yale Cancer Center within the Yale New Haven Health System. As a key member of the executive leadership team, she oversees clinical innovation and care redesign with a focus on patient-centered, high-value care. With expertise in value-based care, she oversees medical home models, multidisciplinary centers of excellence, and direct-to-employer strategy for the Oncology service line. She is an Associate Professor, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Yale University School of Medicine.

William Audeh M.D., M.S., is currently Chief Medical Officer of Agendia, Inc. and brings nearly 30 years of experience as a medical oncologist, clinical researcher and faculty physician at the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center in Los Angeles. Prior to joining Agendia, and in addition to his clinical practice, he served as the former Director of the Cedars-Sinai Cancer Center, Medical Director of the Wasserman Breast Cancer Risk Reduction Program, and Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. Dr. Audeh has been Principal Investigator on a wide variety of national and international clinical and translational trials and has authored numerous publications in the field of breast cancer, cancer genomics and targeted cancer therapy.

William A. Wood, M.D., MPH is currently a Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Division of Hematology in the Department of Medicine and is a member of the UNC Cancer Outcomes Research Program. He is Senior Medical Advisor to the American Society of Hematology Research Collaborative and the Medical Director of the UNC cancer patient navigation program, developing strategies to improve timely and equitable care delivery through navigation. He also established and co-directs the UNC Lineberger HealthScore program, a clinically integrated health coaching program that supports patients with cancer during and after treatment.