The insurer-owned Allegheny Health Network is partnering with a national cancer center to offer new therapies and trials in western Pennsylvania, a sign of heightening regional competition and the emergence of new models for pursuing innovative treatments.
Highmark's Allegheny Health Network has signed a five-year affiliation contract with Johns Hopkins' Kimmel Cancer Center to bring AHN cancer patients access to clinical trials and bring AHN clinicians access to continuing medical education and consulting on rare cancers and novel therapies.
We are extremely pleased to have reached a collaborative agreement with our colleagues at Johns Hopkins that we believe will be of tremendous value to our respective cancer programs and the communities we serve," said David Parda, MD, system chair at the Allegheny Health Network Cancer Institute. "This unique opportunity to collaborate with such an accomplished and respected institution not only will enhance the scope and capabilities of our cancer services, but it demonstrates clearly to all of our patients and the community that we are committed to meeting their healthcare needs in innovative and meaningful ways."
One of the country's 41 comprehensive cancer centers designated by the NIH's National Cancer Institute, the Kimmel Cancer Center has helped innovate in areas such as cancer genetics, bone marrow transplantation and immunotherapy.
Immunotherapy especially is getting a lot of attention for its potential to use the human immune system to fight cancer progression, drawing venture capital biotech funding, interest from Big Pharma and even sparking a legal battle between St. Jude Children's Research Center and the University of Pennsylvania over the intellectual property rights to an artificial T-cell treatment for leukemia. At Johns Hopkins, oncologists are working on a range of immunotherapy studies and trials, including for multiple myeloma and pancreatic cancer.
Leaders at Highmark and the Allegheny Health Network are hoping to be able to bring those and other trials to Pittsburgh area cancer patients and to be able to collaborate with Johns Hopkins researchers in Baltimore.
The two institutions will participate in joint quality and safety projects, and they're also planning to agree to terms for a cancer research fund that "spans bench to bedside research interests" in Baltimore and Pittsburgh.
"In the changing landscape of healthcare services, innovative initiatives like this will keep us at the forefront of discovery and patient-centered care," said William Nelson, MD, director of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.
The new affiliation will give cancer patients in western Pennsylvania another choice in providers and access to dozens of new clinical trials. It will also bring new competition to the region's dominant health system, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, which until now had the region's only comprehensive cancer center. Highmark's contract with UPMC is set to expire at the end of year, absent any new agreement, although some UPMC speciality services, including some oncology care, could remain network.