In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with Andrew Munchel, MSN, RN, OCN, CPHQ, quality program administrator, oncology service line at WellSpan Health, WellSpan Cancer Institute about his program’s receipt of a 2025 ACCC Innovator Award. WellSpan Cancer Institute’s innovation, Adopting Machine Learning-Enabled Decision Support to Improve Oncology End-of-Life Outcomes, involved the implementation of the End-of-Life Care Index, a machine learning and cognitive computing model that predicts 12-month mortality risk, into the cancer program’s clinical decision support tool. Driven by a desire to address the underutilization of palliative care, Munchel will discuss how this implementation enhanced both the efficiency and effectiveness of WellSpan Cancer Institute’s care delivery.

Andrew Munchel, MSN, RN, OCN, CPHQ
Quality Program Administrator, Oncology Service Line
WellSpan Health, WellSpan Cancer Institute
York, Pennsylvania

“Our innovation looked at how [we could] better predict who is most likely to benefit from [palliative care] conversations, queue them up, and have them at the appropriate times to link those patients to palliative care.”

This podcast is part of a special series featuring the 2025 ACCC Innovator Award winners. For a deeper dive into this topic and other content that will help your team reimagine how care is delivered at your cancer program or practice, register today for the ACCC 42nd National Oncology Conference, October 15-17 in Denver, Colorado.

Resources:

Spirituality and Cultural Humility: Core Components of Comprehensive Palliative Care

Collaborative Care: A Model for Embedding Counseling in Oncology and Palliative Care

Building a Palliative Care Program from the Inside Out

Early Palliative Care Program Proactively Meets Patient Needs

Genetic factors play a critical role in prostate cancer treatment planning, with both germline and somatic mutations guiding therapeutic decisions. The Association of Cancer Care Centers (ACCC) remains committed to improving prostate cancer care and has developed the Metastatic Prostate Cancer Handbook: A Guide to Optimizing Outcomes with Germline and Somatic Testing. In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with Andrea Murphy, FNP-C, ACGN, CGRA, genetics nurse practitioner at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center and Amy D. Smith, FNP-BC, director at Meredith & Jeannie Ray Cancer Center, about the impact this handbook has had on patient care delivery, measuring success during the pilot program, and recommendations for sustaining germline and somatic mutation testing in clinical practice.

“I think a lot of people were surprised, definitely with germline testing, that all metastatic patients met the criteria [for testing]…”– Andrea (Ani) Murphy, FNP-C, ACGN, CGRA

“The other thing that the [hand]book did is [give] us a good outline on what our deficiencies were, where we wanted to go with testing...and just pretty much set it up so that it was easy for us to follow.” – Amy D. Smith, NP-BC

“Overall, I think the handbook could give anybody the guidance that they need to set up their own program.” – Amy D. Smith, NP-BC

Andrea (Ani) Murphy, FNP-C, ACGN, CGRA

Nurse Practitioner – Genetics

Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center

Baton Rouge, LA

Amy D. Smith, FNP-BC

Director

Meredith & Jeannie Ray Cancer Center

Ivinson Memorial Hospital

Laramie, Wyoming

Resources:

ACCC Metastatic Prostate Cancer Handbook: A Guide to Optimizing Outcomes with Germline and Somatic Testing

Understanding the Uptake and Challenges of Genetic Testing Guidelines for Prostate Cancer

NCCN Guidelines and Frameworks for Prostate Cancer

ACCC Prostate Cancer Resources