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Letter from AVAHO to Secretary Collins

March 3, 2025

The Honorable Douglas A. Collins, Secretary US Department of Veterans Affairs 810 Vermont Ave., NW Washington, DC 20420   Dear Secretary Collins,   On behalf of the Association of VA Hematology/Oncology (AVAHO), our 1500 members offer sincere congratulations on your recent appointment and confirmation as the 12th Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. In…

Advocating for AVAHO

June 22, 2024

On June 4th, AVAHO leaders and Advocacy Committee held its first Capitol Day in Washington, D.C.  Members met with their senators, congressmen, and staff to discuss issues important to AVAHO members and cancer care for veterans including the CAREERS Act, community care considerations, the VA budget crisis, EHR modernization, and drug prices/shortages. These meetings were…

Coordinated Care Tracking System (CCTS)

February 28, 2024

The Coordinated Care Tracking System (CCTS) is an application designed to ensure timely and appropriate coordination of care through identification, tracking, and navigating Veterans at-risk or affected by cancer throughout the continuum of care from screening to survivorship.

The Expanding Roles of PARP Inhibitors in Prostate Cancer

February 26, 2024

Nicholas G. Little, PharmDPGY-2 Oncology Pharmacy ResidentSouthern Arizona VA Health Care SystemTucson, Arizona Introduction Over the last decade, the role of targeted therapy has played a key role in shaping clinical practice for many different malignancies. Despite being the most common cancer among men, there has been very little development of targeted therapy in prostate…

Meet Alec Stone, AVAHO’s Advocacy Consultant

February 26, 2024

Alec Stone, Executive Director, National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs, has been a leader in national nonprofit management for more than two decades. With an expertise in biomedical research and healthcare advocacy, Mr. Stone has worked with premiere organizations such as the Oncology Nursing Society, American Cancer Society, American Medical Association, American Dental Association,…

AVAHO Advocacy Updates

February 26, 2024

Over the last year, AVAHO has firmly established its advocacy efforts, having formed a new advocacy committee, created a legislative action center on our website, and collaborated with several other healthcare organizations to advocate for veteran oncology care, including NOVA (Nurses Organization of Veterans Affairs), HOPA (Hematology Oncology Pharmacy Association), and ACCC (Association of Community…

Deciphering the Alphabet Soup: Updates on EHR Modernization Oncology Workgroups

February 25, 2024

Hope Schenk, Pharm.D., BCOPClinical Pharmacy PractitionerVA National TeleOncology Hub Jackie Goettl, RN, MSN, OCNOncology Solution ExpertElectronic Health Record Modernization Integration Office (EHRM-IO)Department of Veterans Affairs In 2018, the VA began the monumental process of implementing a new electronic health record (EHR) through Cerner Corporation (purchased by Oracle in June 2022). This vendor was chosen due…

Association of Food Deserts and Food Swamps With Obesity-Related Cancer Mortality in the US

February 25, 2024

Malcolm Seth Bevel, PhD, MSPH, 1 Meng-Han Tsai, PhD, 1 , 2 April Parham, BS, TTS, 1 Sydney Elizabeth Andrzejak, MS, 1 Samantha Jones, PhD, 1 , 2 and Justin Xavier Moore, PhD, MPH   JAMA Oncol. 2023 Jul; 9(7): 909-916. Published online 2023 May 4. doi: 10.1001/jamaoncol.2023.0634 Background Cancer is the second leading cause of death overall, behind heart disease, in the US, while it is third…

AVAHO Regional Meetings Update

January 30, 2024

In 2023, AVAHO introduced another form of in-person learning: Regional Meetings.  Regional meetings were introduced to provide membership with additional opportunities to interact with fellow AVAHO members, while learning about VA oncology from a multidisciplinary perspective.  Annual Membership survey results frequently request additional networking time and AVAHO listened to those needs.  Many members have never…

Feb 29: Improving Health Literacy – Getting Started

January 28, 2024

February 29, 3 pm Eastern Are you concerned that your patients don’t always understand you – or your colleagues – regarding their illness, treatment, or role in maximizing outcomes? Are you unsure what you might do to mitigate these challenges? Join us for Improving Health Literacy: Getting Started! Presented by Dan Greenwood, PhD, RDNational Program…

VA Articles of Interest (Winter 2023)

December 30, 2023

Suicide risk following a new cancer diagnosis among Veterans in Veterans Health Administration care Cancer Med. 2023 Feb; 12(3): 3520-3531. Published online 2022 Aug 27. doi: 10.1002/cam4.5146 PMID: 36029038 Kallisse R. Dent, 1 Benjamin R. Szymanski, 1 Michael J. Kelley, 2 , 3 , 4 Ira R. Katz, 5 and John F. McCarthy 1 1 Veterans Affairs (VA) Serious Mental Illness Treatment Resource and Evaluation Center, Office of Mental Health and Suicide…

Letter From The Editor (Winter 2023)

December 27, 2023

Greetings AVAHO members and supporters, In this edition of the AVAHO newsletter I hope that you notice the dramatic increase in educational offerings that AVAHO is bringing to it’s members!  For years we have wanted to move beyond being just a “once a year annual meeting” organization and have a more year-round approach to the…

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