Healix Health has launched a connected cancer pathway developed in partnership with Perci Health and the Health Value Alliance, alongside other partners.
The cancer care performance pathway is designed to support employees from prevention through to life beyond cancer, connecting prevention and risk assessment, screening and early detection, treatment navigation and long-term cancer care within one integrated model.
The pathway is built around three pillars, giving employees support and employers risk insight and cost control, the healthcare trust provider said.
It starts with a personalised health risk assessment (HRA), helping members understand their cancer and metabolic risk, and linking this to risk reduction and screening.
Behavioural nudges and screening optimisation encourage earlier action, while members with abnormal results receive nurse guidance to explain what the result means and the next steps.
This also aims to give employers the data they need to understand risk across their workforce, spot where it is concentrated, and build more targeted, cost-effective support, the firm added.
From diagnosis, every member is assigned a cancer nurse specialist, whether their care is delivered through the NHS, privately or across multiple providers.
Healix Health and Perci Health nurses will work together with signposting and proactive appointment booking to reduce the administrative burden on members.
For employers, that coordination is designed to reduce unnecessary delays and support a safe return to work, limiting the disruption a cancer diagnosis can cause to a team, the provider noted.
HVA partnership
Alongside risk assessment and claims data, additional insights will come from a new partnership with the Health Value Alliance (HVA), a specialist healthcare performance intelligence specialist.
HVA brings together clinical, operational, patient-reported, financial and risk data within one contextual model to support enhanced performance profiling.
This enhanced intelligence will help identify trends and give employers a much clearer picture of their workforce population health, enabling them to evolve their benefit design and approach to prevention, for a more sustainable strategy to fund effective workforce health and wellbeing.
Beyond coordinating care, the pathway gives employees cancer-specific support throughout treatment, including pre-habilitation and psychological support.
Care continues after active treatment, with an annual review from a cancer nurse specialist and ongoing help with the longer-term physical, emotional and practical effects of cancer.
The pathway also recognises the impact cancer can have on work and family life with remain-in-work and return-to-work planning built into the service.
Loved ones and carers can access specialist cancer support and line managers receive practical guidance on how to support too.
Big health challenge
Sarah Taylor, director of corporate healthcare proposition at Healix Health, (pictured) said: “Cancer is one of the biggest health challenges facing UK employers, and it’s a challenge that’s only building, with more people diagnosed at a younger age and more living, and working, with cancer for longer.
“The NHS’s ten-year Cancer Plan is a welcome step in the right direction, but employers can’t wait a decade for that support to arrive.”
She added that prevention was where the pathway really comes into its own: “It’s where employers stand to save the most, and where cancer can be stopped in its tracks before it ever becomes a costly, disruptive diagnosis.”
Kelly McCabe, co-founder and CEO of Perci Health, said: “For the first time, risk assessment, screening, navigation, supportive care and return to work are brought together into one connected pathway, tightly integrated into Healix Health’s clinical and claims workflow so people are identified and offered the right support at the right moment, rather than having to find it themselves.
“We wanted to build something different, a connected pathway designed around the person from the outset, rather than a collection of individual services stitched together afterwards.
“Cancer doesn’t happen in neat stages, and the support around someone shouldn’t either. It’s personalised, proactive and continually measured against real outcomes.
“This is a significant step forward, but what matters most is what it means for people. Earlier intervention, fewer people falling through the gaps, and more people able to get back to living their lives.”
Matt Hickey, co-founder and CEO of the Health Value Alliance, added: “Healthcare didn’t need another isolated analytics tool. It needed one common healthcare performance intelligence platform capable of reflecting the complex realities of how healthcare is funded, accessed, delivered and measured, while connecting evidence to reveal the whole performance story.
“By providing a shared view of performance, we can help organisations make better decisions together and act earlier, so that more of the available funding can support prevention and care that delivers lasting benefit for more people.”