This year, for the first time, VBCF hosted a Healthcare Provider Summit as a part of our More Than a Pink Ribbon luncheon event. We wanted to offer a space for providers to learn about some current topics affecting people with breast cancer and be able to interact with other providers who touch their patients in different parts of their breast cancer treatment. VBCF worked with healthcare providers from different healthcare systems to come up with a program that would have broad appeal and offer real substance, even in a short amount of time. We wanted to introduce a wide array of providers to topics that were maybe outside of their specialty, or they just hadn’t had the time to explore. We also wanted to introduce them to some Virginia-based subject matter experts to show the good public health work that is happening in the Commonwealth that complements the medical work that they do.
Summit attendees started the morning by learning about new practice strategies for screening more patients for genetic mutations from our generous sponsors at the Virginia Women’s Center. VBCF’s Education Manager Erin Steigleder then gave an overview of breast cancer incidence (how many cases are diagnosed per 100,000 women) and mortality across the health districts in the state. She closed with a call to action, encouraging more healthcare providers to get involved with public health and policy advocacy, because what is happening in our communities affects their practice, and they can use what they see in their practice to partner with public health on new programs and policy changes. After Erin laid the groundwork, Heidi Miller, who oversees the Every Woman’s Life (EWL) program at the Virginia Department of Health, educated the audience on the program. EWL partners with healthcare providers across the state to provide free breast and cervical cancer screenings to people in Virginia who are uninsured and gets them signed up for Medicaid if they are diagnosed with cancer through the program. VBCF helped to advocate for the establishment of this program in 1997, so it was great to be able to highlight the good work that EWL continues to do.
A new topic for many attendees was the effect of breast cancer treatment on the heart (and vice versa) from Dr. David Chuquin and Dr. Arnethea Sutton from Massey Cancer Center and VCU. Cardio-oncology is an important emerging field. We now have a lot more cancer survivors than we used to have, but with more people living through cancer, we are learning more about heart-related late effects of treatment and who might be impacted more by these late effects. Another new topic for many of the providers was information on the LGBTQ+ patient population. Healthcare providers get very little education and training in providing affirming care to their LGBTQ+ patients, so we invited Ted Heck from the Virginia Department of Health to talk to providers about the health disparities that exist broadly and, more specifically, for breast cancer for the LGBTQ+ population. He provided some introductory information as well as a wealth of resources so providers can ensure that their practices are welcoming to all patients.
The final presentation was by nurse practitioner Ashley Page at the Richmond Breast Center. She informed attendees about new screening techniques, such as mammograms with contrast and “fast” or abbreviated MRIs that can provide greater clarity in breast cancer screening, particularly for those with dense breasts but are still new to the scene and often not fully covered by insurance.
We closed out the morning with a panel of physicians in different specialties, asking them about their practice and the opportunities and challenges they see in their work. In this session, we really saw the value in getting a bunch of people in the same field but with different specialties in the same room together. Everyone was there to learn more about how to provide the best for their patients and were genuinely curious and thoughtful about how best to adjust their practice to enhance patient care. At the close of the summit, many attendees were already asking for us to do it again, so we’ll call that a success!
