New York City-based Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center has introduced MSK Direct, a program in which MSK collaborates with external employers to simplify how their employees can engage with the institution for initial or ongoing cancer care.
Each MSK Direct partnership is customized to the individual employer to suit employees' needs. MSK Direct offers a variety of options to serve each employee population and their family members, including access to initial evaluations or second opinions and the option to immediately begin cancer treatment and support services, such as counseling.
There is no cost associated with the program — it is built upon an organization's existing payer arrangements.
"Cancer care is extraordinarily difficult to go through, but accessing it in a time of distress shouldn't be," said Wendy Perchick, senior vice president of strategy and innovation at MSK. "We have found that many people are simply unaware that they already have access to MSK's high-quality care and compassionate specialists through their existing insurance plans, so we envisioned MSK Direct as a way to communicate to those individuals that MSK will be there for them and their families when they need us most, whether for a first or second opinion or to begin immediate treatment."
MSK has already implemented MSK Direct through partnerships with six employers, including CBS Corp. and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.