Promoting Access, Resources and Treatment through Novel and Equitable Solutions (PARTNERS) for Cancer Care
As of June 30, 2026, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center no longer serves as a grantee site for the Alliance for Equity in Cancer Care.
“PARTNERS" (Promoting Access, Resources and Treatment through Novel and Equitable Solutions for Cancer Care) is coordinating patient navigation processes at five sites in the Case CCC catchment area, including: two community care organizations (El Centro and The Gathering Place), an FQHC (Care Alliance), the University Hospitals (UH) Accountable Care Organization (ACO) and the UH Seidman Cancer Center. Data show that patients from marginalized communities experience the most barriers to receiving timely cancer diagnosis and treatment, and continuity in their care. The PARTNERS team will collectively focus on delivery of patient navigation processes among racial/ethnic minorities and those living in regions of high deprivation during diagnostic resolution for the following four cancers: breast, lung, prostate and colorectal. It is expected that providing patient navigation can be used to improve access to timely and continuous cancer care, and to identify and provide referrals for social drivers of health (SDOH) needs. All eight grantees under the (Merck) Alliance will collect and harmonize key study metrics including demographics, date of diagnosis, patient satisfaction and distress.
The PARTNERS team aims to improve cancer care equity among racial/ethnic minorities and lower-income individuals in Northeast Ohio, who are more likely to experience advanced-stage cancer diagnoses and higher cancer mortality rates. Key demographics include:
- People with a suspicious screening result in breast, prostate, colorectal and/or lung cancer
- Black American/Hispanic patients
- Populations residing in areas with a high area deprivation index
PARTNERS uses a multilevel approach to increase access to timely and consistent follow-up after a suspicious cancer screening, and continuity in care along the cancer continuum. Improvement in coordination of care among primary care providers and cancer specialists is a key study goal, as well as providing a more informed cancer treatment plan customized for the patient.
Patient navigators (PN) at each of the PARTNERS’ sites will work with patients who have received a suspicious cancer screening result. Psychosocial screening tools will be used to identify barriers to care and offer support to overcome barriers by providing SDOH referrals to community support organizations.
Patient/Caregiver Level
- Promote utilization of navigators through patient and provider education
- Develop and integrate digital tools to coordinate care during the diagnostic resolution process by removing barriers to care through referrals to community-based support systems
Provider/Care Team Level
- Build capacity through multidisciplinary team-based care
- Develop best practices/protocols to guide inter-team communication
Health Systems Level
- Integrate new navigator roles and services into existing community-based partner organizations/infrastructures
In addition to Case CCC’s evaluation efforts, the NPO will plan and implement a comprehensive cross-site program evaluation using core data elements, harmonized metrics and overall collected data. This will inform future efforts and measure the impact of the initiative across grantee sites while identifying and promoting best practices. Unique to PARTNERS will also be an evaluation of outcomes in key areas including barriers addressed, ensuring and tracking closed-loop SDOH support referrals to community-based support organizations.