Service Line Focus: Cancer Programs Build Strength Through Partnerships

Strategic collaboration in cancer care between academic medical centers (AMCs) and community-based programs is becoming essential to meet capacity challenges, broaden reach and close gaps in care delivery.

Players on both sides face opportunity and complexity when evaluating, scaling and sustaining these partnerships.

Three steps heighten the potential for partnership success.

1. Start with shared understanding. Identify the core challenge the prospective partner is trying to address—whether it’s bottlenecks in high-acuity services, financial pressures, payer relevance, or workforce shortages of key physician or clinical staff (eg, breast surgeon, dosimetrist). From there, define what “value” means to each organization. Consider how services may complement each other and which affiliation model(s) would create a win-win result.
2. Plan for potential roadblocks. Perform due diligence to ensure high quality, and recognize that these processes take time. Many organizations have reported 18 to 24 months of intensive review and ramp-up before reaching clinical and operational alignment. One Midwest health system, for example, shared that it took a full year to align with its NCI-designated cancer center partner, with clinical trial integration still underway as part of the next phase.
3. Maintain the momentum. Help internal teams (eg, operations) understand the “why” behind the partnership. Tap into AMC resources (eg, marketing) to reinforce the story and keep patients engaged locally. Evolve as needed. Some AMCs and freestanding cancer centers have larger teams focused on maintaining and strengthening existing relationships versus initiating new ones. Priorities can shift, and it’s not unheard of for an organization to scale back an agreement if it perceives no ongoing value to gain.

When executed well, these partnerships strengthen over time, delivering greater impact for patients and long-term value for both organizations.

For more insights, Sg2 members can check out our Cancer Service Line Resource Kit and explore Vizient’s Service Line Strategic Networks. Not a member? Reach out to us at learnmore@sg2.com for information on the expert intelligence, data-driven insights and strategic perspective Sg2 offers to health systems nationwide.

NCI = National Cancer Institute. Sources: Association of Cancer Care Centers 51st Annual Meeting & Cancer Business Summit, March 2025, Washington, DC; Vizient Cancer Service Line Strategic Network Meeting, April 2025.