PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA — New research published in the November 2025 issue of the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (JNCCN) finds that cancer clinics overwhelmingly view team-based supportive care models as more effective than approaches driven primarily by technology, offering fresh insight into how oncology providers see the future of patient-centered care.
The mixed-methods study, spanning 26 cancer clinics across academic centers, community hospitals, veterans’ facilities, and safety-net systems, evaluated two intervention models: one built around community health workers and peer support, and another rooted in electronic medical record–based tools. According to survey results, 87.5% of team-based clinic participants said the interpersonal approach was more likely to improve patient care, compared with just 25% of those using the technology-first model.
The study is part of an ongoing cluster-randomized trial evaluating how supportive care programs manage symptoms and incorporate discussions about patient values, goals, and preferences—conversations shown to reduce unnecessary hospitalizations and improve long-term outcomes.
“The broad support for team-based models using community health workers was surprising, given the increasing reliance on technology to deliver supportive cancer care,” said senior author Manali Patel, MD, MPH, MS, of the Stanford Cancer Institute. She noted that most participants believed peer support was more effective at addressing patient needs and emphasized the importance of funding and prioritizing these models.
Resource constraints remain a challenge. Only 31.3% of respondents felt their center had the financial capacity to sustain or expand team-based supportive care programs, while 37.5% believed they were adequately resourced to grow technology-based approaches. Still, leadership openness to change was high across both groups, with 75% of team-based sites and 62.5% of tech-based sites reporting that organizational leaders were receptive to adapting care processes.
Independent experts say the findings highlight the limits of technology-only solutions. “In supportive cancer care, technology alone may not be the answer to effective symptom management and advance care planning,” said Loretta Erhunmwunsee, MD, FACS, Vice President and Chief Health Access and Community Enrichment Officer at City of Hope, who was not involved with the study. She argued that the most meaningful progress will come when digital tools are integrated into equity-focused, relationship-driven systems.
“The greatest impact will come from technology embedded within strong, equity-driven, team-based systems that center the patient experience,” she said. “Perhaps the path forward is not team versus tech, but rather both—guided by equity.”
Full study findings and survey details are available at JNCCN.org.
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