The next frontier in oncology is supportive care as infrastructure.
Cancer patients do not experience care in silos. They navigate emotional distress, symptom burden, nutritional challenges, financial strain, and serious illness decision-making alongside clinical treatment. When these needs go unmet, the result is predictable: avoidable emergency department and hospital visits, medication non-adherence, poor quality-of-life, and rising total cost of care.
A recent study found that nearly three-quarters (72.1%) of patients with cancer reported at least one serious unmet need. The most common gaps were related to health system navigation and information (57.6%), followed by psychological needs (50.6%), physical and daily living challenges (39.4%), and patient care and support (30.4%).[1] The study concludes that delivering high-quality oncology care requires improved communication with the healthcare system and personalized interventions, both growing challenges for today’s healthcare ecosystem.
OncoHealth research reinforces these findings. In a survey of 450 people with cancer[2] and their families:
- 73% did not use mental health therapy or support groups
- 66% were not provided a nurse line for their symptoms or after-hours support
- 65% did not have access to nutritional support
For health plans, these gaps represent both care quality issues and cost opportunities. Unmet needs drive avoidable utilization, unnecessary ED visits and hospitalizations, and poor member experience. Supportive care is no longer an add-on service; it is becoming core infrastructure for quality, cost containment, and member trust. Below are five critical areas where targeted support can improve outcomes while reducing total cost of care.
Mental Health Support
Cancer is both a clinical and psychological diagnosis. A recent study showed that approximately 35% of patients with cancer experience mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, and distress.[3] Yet mental health is often delivered through disconnected referrals rather than embedded oncology models.
The financial impact is significant. Total annual healthcare costs for patients with cancer and depression are 113% higher than for those without depression, driven by increased outpatient/ambulatory care (+101%), emergency department (ED) visits (+36.6%), and hospital care charges (+47.3%).[4]
Without accessible, oncology-specific behavioral health services, patients often struggle in silence until symptoms escalate into crises. Filling these gaps with proactive mental health support helps improve quality of life while reducing unnecessary utilization. Mental health, when integrated properly, becomes a risk mitigation strategy, not just a member benefit.
Symptom Management
Cancer-related symptoms such as pain, nausea, fatigue, shortness of breath, and treatment side effects remain among the top drivers of avoidable acute care. One study showed that 63% of patients with cancer experience severe symptoms,[5] many of which result in a visit to the emergency department. More than half (51.6%) of these visits, which increased by 73% from 2012 to 2019, are potentially avoidable. Almost a third of these ED visits (30.2%) resulted in unplanned hospitalizations.[6]
For health plans, this represents a major opportunity. By delivering continuous monitoring, early clinical interventions, and virtual access to oncology-trained nurses and other experts, they can redirect care from the emergency department to lower-cost, higher-touch supportive settings.
Nutritional Guidance
Nutrition is often overlooked in oncology, yet its impact on cost and outcomes is substantial. Hospital costs for patients with cancer have been shown to grow by 34% and 30-day readmission rates by 54% because of malnutrition. Organizations that prioritize nutritional optimization have demonstrated meaningful results, including a 27% reduction in readmissions and millions in cost savings.[7]
Providing access to oncology-specific nutrition counseling helps patients tolerate treatment better, recover faster, and avoid preventable complications that lead to inpatient stays. For health plans, nutrition is not a lifestyle service, it is a clinical lever. When embedded into oncology management, it directly influences both quality metrics and total cost of care.
Financial Navigation
Financial toxicity is one of the most significant stressors for patients with cancer. More than half of patients with cancer (57%) endure medical financial hardship due to cancer.[8] Research shows the scope of this burden[9]:
- 42% of patients with cancer report significant financial strain
- 20% take less medication than prescribed due to cost
- 46% dip into savings to cover out-of-pocket expenses
- 68% cut back on leisure activities to manage bills
Patients with cancer are five times more likely to experience bankruptcy than those without cancer, and face rapidly declining credit scores as medical expenses grow.[10]
When financial stress is unmanaged, adherence suffers, engagement declines, and health outcomes worsen. Health plans that incorporate financial navigation and resource support can protect both the member experience and clinical outcomes.
End of Life (EOL) Planning
Aggressive, non-goal-concordant care at the end of life is both costly and often misaligned with patient values. The cost of care in the final month of life for patients with cancer is almost 10x higher than six months prior.[11] ICU admissions and chemotherapy near end of life are widely recognized markers of poor quality and poor experience.
Proactive advance care planning allows patients and families to define goals, values, and preferences before crises occur. When aligned early, care becomes more patient-centered, appropriate, and cost-effective.
For health plans operating in value-based oncology models, end-of-life planning is not just compassionate care, it is a quality benchmark and a strategic necessity.
Supportive Care as Oncology Infrastructure
Across these five critical areas, a clear pattern emerges: supportive care must operate continuously, not episodically. Traditional oncology delivery relies heavily on in-person visits. Yet most patient needs occur between visits, after hours, and outside clinic walls. This is where virtual supportive care becomes foundational infrastructure for oncology management.
Virtual models enable health plans to:
- Monitor symptoms in real time
- Intervene before crises occur
- Embed mental healthcare and other supportive services into oncology care
- Address financial and social barriers proactively
How Iris by OncoHealth Helps Address Unmet Needs
Iris by OncoHealth® is an oncology supportive care program designed to close these gaps for health plans and their members. Iris delivers personalized, cancer-specific, 24/7 support to members and caregivers as they navigate the emotional, physical, and financial challenges of cancer and its treatments
Iris helps fill gaps in care by providing:
- Oncology-focused mental health therapy to build coping skills and address anxiety, depression, and distress
- Symptom tracking with real-time nurse intervention to prevent avoidable ED visits and hospitalizations
- Proactive resource navigation, including financial strain and social determinants of health
- Personalized nutrition visits and toolkits to reduce the risk and impact of malnutrition
- Advance care planning support to define end-of-life values and goals with patients and caregivers
By integrating supportive care into the oncology ecosystem, Iris helps health plans improve member experience, reduce unnecessary utilization, and create sustainable cost control across the cancer continuum.
References:
[1] Unmet supportive care needs among cancer patients: exploring cancer-entity specific needs and associated factors, Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology, January 19, 2024
[2] OncoHealth research, 2022
[3] Ibid
[4] Health care costs of depression in patients diagnosed with cancer, Psychooncology, July 2018
[5] System Monitoring With Patient-Reported Outcomes During Routine Cancer Treatment: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Journal of Clinical Oncology, February 2016
[6] Trends and Characteristics of Potentially Preventable Emergency Department Visits Among Patients With Cancer in the US, Jama Open Access Medical Research and Commentary, January 2023
[7] Addressing Malnutrition Through Advances in Value-Based Care, Health Affairs, April 2, 2025
[8] Cancer diagnosis and treatment in working-age adults: Implications for employment, health insurance coverage, and financial hardship in the United States, CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians – Wiley Online Library, July-August 2024
[9] Impact of financial burden of cancer on survivors’ quality of life, Journal of Oncology Practice, September 2014
[11] Health Care Costs for Patients with Cancer at the End of Life, Journal of Clinical Oncology Practice, July 2012