CancerLinQ LLC, a wholly owned nonprofit subsidiary of ASCO, and the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) have announced the formation of the CancerLinQ^® Ambassadors Program. This new collaboration is a national practice engagement initiative that will provide on-the-ground support and guidance to CancerLinQ participating practices on a regional basis.

“As CancerLinQ continues to engage the community, the need to bring together physicians, nurses, and the various professionals of the care team to leverage our respective strengths is increasingly evident,” said Kevin Fitzpatrick, CancerLinQ LLC CEO. “We are grateful to work with ONS to build on this commitment to care and enable every practice to get the most out of their use of the CancerLinQ platform to ultimately benefit patients.”

Extending the platform’s reach and overall programmatic impact, oncology nurses will play a critical role in CancerLinQ’s successful adoption in all practice settings. With over 39,000 members and expertise in developing and implementing educational and oncology nurse consulting programs, ONS is well positioned to enhance the value of CancerLinQ through nurse involvement in a way that ultimately benefits patients with cancer.

“Nurses play a critical role in not only the delivery of patient care, but also ensuring that information and data are utilized correctly for quality improvement,” said ONS CEO Brenda Nevidjon, PhD, RN, AOCN^®, FAAN. “This collaboration with CancerLinQ allows nurses, physicians, and the entire health care team to better engage in practice and use technology to improve efficiency and provide the best care possible.”

The CancerLinQ Ambassadors Program will launch in selected regions of the United States with the long-term goal of expanding nationwide. ONS will recruit credentialed nurses from its membership with experience in quality improvement, informatics, and technology to provide guidance in the field. Ambassadors will visit practices on a regular basis to answer questions and perform training for oncologists, oncology nurses, and their practice staff, bringing back firsthand observations and feedback to augment CancerLinQ services and overall user experience. In addition, ambassadors will work with practices to optimize the quality of the data they are sharing with CancerLinQ, disseminate best practices, and provide coaching on how to integrate the platform into the workflow within their care team model.

The collaboration with ONS is one of many that CancerLinQ is pursuing with a coalition of partners and thought leaders, including government agencies, medical specialty societies, and life sciences companies, to receive guidance and gain insights to improve the quality and efficiency of cancer care delivery.

Created by oncologists for oncologists, CancerLinQ is a powerful database composed of vast amounts of usable, searchable, real-world cancer information. This big data initiative will allow users to see trends among millions of patients by analyzing medical records from patients with cancer, uncovering patterns that can improve patient care, and enabling the entire health care team to compare their care against that of their peers and recommended guidelines.

CancerLinQ is a project of CancerLinQ LLC. For more information on how to participate or partner with CancerLinQ, visit CancerLinQ.org.