Color Health Expands Virtual Cancer Clinic, Offers Comprehensive Care for Employees and Members

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Oct 16, 2024, 08:00 ET

Color is rolling out its Virtual Cancer Clinic to over 45 employers, health plans, and unions across the country

BURLINGAME, Calif., Oct. 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Color Health announces the expansion of the nation's first fully integrated virtual cancer clinic. With this expansion, Color integrates new clinical and support capabilities into the leading cancer program for employers, unions, and health plans to support individuals at every stage of their cancer journey—spanning early detection, diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship.

"Color's expanded clinical capabilities are designed to support patients from diagnosis to treatment through survivorship, ensuring continuous medical care, seamless transitions into post-treatment life, and essential financial assistance. We are dedicated to rethinking cancer care by empowering organizations to meet these critical needs," said Othman Laraki, CEO, Color Health.

Earlier intervention and active guidelines-based patient care drive substantial improvements in cancer outcomes and costs. For each cancer case caught one stage earlier costs can decrease by $63K in the first year of treatment and the 5-year survival rate increases by up to ~140%.

Color's expanded Virtual Cancer Clinic includes:

Direct cancer treatment management and navigation: An expanded team of physicians, nurses, and other health practitioners within Color's affiliated 50-state medical group to provide 24/7 oncologist-led care for any type of cancer diagnosis, ensuring patients receive consistent, high-quality care throughout diagnosis and treatment, no matter their location. Services include diagnostic workups, treatment protocol reviews, and proactive symptom and medication management, with expert consultations from a network of clinicians from NCI-designated cancer centers, including Lidia Schapira, MD, Stanford Health Care and Elizabeth Etkin-Kramer, MD, Mt. Sinai Medical Center.
Financial hardship avoidance: A purpose-built financial hardship program, which includes Color's new Care Wallet, to reduce the burden of out-of-pocket expenses on employees and members. Approximately 58% of survivors face long-term financial strain, and nearly 40% exhaust their savings within two years of diagnosis. With Care Wallet, employees can be reimbursed for cancer-related expenses through a first-of-its-kind, cancer-dedicated Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) funded by employers.
Expert survivorship clinical management & ongoing career success: The first virtual care program modeled after survivorship clinics at Centers of Excellence that takes on care management for patients finishing treatment, effectively managing the gaps between oncology and primary care. This program also addresses return-to-work and career success on an ongoing basis, including direct support for managers and benefits teams supporting employees who are navigating post-treatment work and life.
Nutritional & physical health program: A program designed to help cancer patients and survivors live healthier lives during and after treatment, led by registered dietitians. This program includes education on ways to optimize physical activity, healthy eating and personalized nutrition plans, and ongoing opportunities to connect with peers with similar experiences.

"By shifting cancer management efforts upstream, to effective earlier interventions, Color's Virtual Cancer Clinic can help employers drive better engagement, health outcomes and lower costs, ultimately transforming the way we support employees throughout their cancer journeys," said Brian Marcotte, former CEO of Business Group on Health.

Color Health's Virtual Cancer Clinic is designed to integrate seamlessly with existing care systems, enhancing overall utilization and ensuring a comprehensive support structure for all stages of cancer management. Research from the Business Group on Health^¹ has found employers are seeking a holistic approach to cancer care that balances preventive education, early detection, and the reduction of barriers to accessing timely treatment.

"At Color, we recognize that cancer is more than chemotherapy, it is more than radiation. Cancer impacts every aspect of patients' lives – interpersonal relationships, finances, mental health, work, burden on friends and family, and so much more. If we don't start treating cancer for everything that it is – all encompassing – the U.S. will continue to see rising costs, rising rates of late-stage cancer diagnoses, and unfortunately, an increase in mortality rates," said Dr. Rebecca Miksad, Chief Medical Officer, Color Health.

"What Color offers is a dream come true for primary care physicians, patients, families, and employers when it comes to cancer care, filling in gaps when and where patients and clinicians encounter them," said Dr. Gretchen Mockler, Primary Care Physician, Weill Cornell Medicine. "Color allows us, as primary care physicians, to operate at the top of our license while also ensuring our patients are up-to-date on necessary screenings and getting the answers they need between visits."

Through its Virtual Cancer Clinic expansion, Color continues to build on a long track record of innovation ranging from the use of technology to power population-scale public health services that have served millions of people to building cutting-edge generative AI tools such as Color's Cancer Copilot, which was created in partnership with OpenAI. The expanded offering will be made available to customers starting January 2025.

For more information on Color's Virtual Cancer Clinic, please visit www.color.com/cancer.

About Color Health
Color Health is changing the way patients access cancer care through integrated healthcare services and technology. Color provides proactive, evidence-based care that is accessible to anyone, anytime, and at every step of the cancer journey. We partner with employers, health plans, unions, and government agencies to improve accessibility of early interventions, timely diagnosis, oncology care management and survivorship care. With nationwide reach, specialized oncology expertise, and comprehensive support services, Color helps its customers and their members take control of cancer at every step. Connect with Color on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and www.color.com.

Media Contact
Alyssa Canter
[email protected]
(917) 710-0091

Elena Riecke
120/80 MKTG for Color
[email protected]
(917) 485-1994

^¹Taking Action on Cancer, Business Group on Health. September 2024

SOURCE Color Health