Value-based cancer care platform Thyme Care is launching Enhanced Supportive Care, a virtual palliative care support program to help its members and caregivers manage the physical and psychological symptoms that accompany cancer diagnosis and treatment.
The program will be led by Dr. Julia Frydman, the company’s first medical director of palliative care. Frydman previously worked in the geriatric and palliative medicine program at Mount Sinai Health System in New York City.
“There is a group of patients who are members of Thyme Care, who have a curable disease but have many symptoms or many repercussions of that disease due to treatment, or who have a progressive disease that is progressing and need help with the symptoms of that disease. as they move forward and with medical decision-making as they approach the end of life. Palliative care addresses both groups of patients,” Frydman said. MobiHealthNews.
Thyme Care offers palliative care options through its care team, such as assistance with member goals, values and preferences or advanced care planning; however, through enhanced supportive care, members will have access to a palliative care physician, including Dr. Frydman.
“Some patients may need more help with their symptoms, they may need more help understanding their disease and prognosis, they need an additional level of support for their caregivers to maximize quality of life and ensure they receive care consistent with their goals. So it’s a “natural clinical extension of what we do with caregivers and nurses,” Frydman said.
The virtual palliative care offering, which can be offered at any stage of the illness, will be structured based on the needs of each member.
The program will typically begin with a psychological and physical evaluation to determine how enhanced supportive care services may be most beneficial. Services are then provided based on the member’s type of cancer.
For example, members with curable cancer can receive support on how to talk to their friends and family about their illness or coping mechanisms to help them successfully complete cancer treatment.
A person with advanced cancer may be able to receive end-of-life assistance, such as finding out where support is available or benefits versus risks in certain cancer therapies.
“Palliative care is a crucial component of improving quality of life while receiving cancer treatment, and palliative medicine physicians are uniquely equipped to help cope and help with symptoms,” Frydman said.
“Oncologists do this too, but their first priority is treating the cancer, and palliative care doctors’ first priority is taking care of the patient and their family unit.”
Frydman will be the program’s lead physician and plans to expand its physician base by hiring nurse practitioners before the end of the year.
“The reason we’re particularly excited is that in some communities and in some oncology practices, there are no palliative care providers available to our members, and that’s in the context of a national shortage of geriatrics and palliative medications,” he said Frydman.
“There are simply not enough doctors with these areas of expertise to meet the needs of our population. That’s why we are excited to expand the scope of services.”