In the traditional healthcare model, cancer care is often reactive—a race against time that begins only after a diagnosis. But at The Christ Hospital Health Network, the goal is to flip that script. Under the leadership of Dr. Kevin Banks, Executive Director of Precision Health and Pharmacogenomics, the network is turning their focus to identifying and managing cancer risks across the community.
"It’s moving from treating people who are sick to identifying people who are at risk of getting cancer," Dr. Banks explains, "which is very transformational." This isn’t just a change in clinical practice; it’s a system-wide effort to embrace a proactive population health strategy, ultimately improving patient outcomes while also reducing long-term costs.
Data Was the First Barrier
Before a health system can scale a high-risk program, it must be able to see it. Without clear, consistent visibility into assessment completion rates or genetic testing outcomes, it was impossible to establish a baseline for quality improvement. By partnering with The Ambry CARE Program® (CARE), The Christ Hospital gained the metrics necessary to move beyond guesswork. Understanding exactly where patients are along the journey allows leadership to assess the impact and justify the resources required for a system-wide rollout.
Scaling From 20% Coverage to Network-Wide Equity
One of the most significant challenges in high-risk programs is closing equity gaps. Dr. Banks noted that when working with a previous lab partner, the network was only reaching roughly 20% of eligible patients. In a mission-driven organization, reaching one-fifth of a population isn't a success; it’s a disparity.
To achieve true population-level impact, the goal is to assess every patient across the network, regardless of where they enter the system. Scaling requires a platform that doesn't just work within the four walls of an oncology clinic but extends into primary care and out into the broader community. This expansion ensures that proactive care becomes a standard of practice.
A Full-Cycle Model for Personalized Care
A high-risk program is only as effective as the follow-through. Identifying a patient at high-risk is only the first step; the clinical benefit is negated if the patient is lost to follow up before receiving a referral or advanced screening. Utilizing CARE in combination with their own strengthened workflows, The Christ Hospital has developed a closed-loop pathway that guides a patient through every critical milestone:
- Assessment: Capturing family and personal history
- Risk Identification: Flagging those who meet clinical criteria for hereditary cancer testing or breast MRI
- Education and Testing: Empowering patients through genetic testing and counseling
- Advanced Screening: Implementing high-risk surveillance or risk-reducing measures
- Early Detection and Prevention: Catching cancer when it is most treatable or significantly reducing risks
The results of this workflow are measurable and life-changing. The program has identified multiple patients with stage 1 cancers—patients who, in a reactive system, likely wouldn't have been diagnosed until Stage 3 or 4.
Empowering Patients on Both Sides of Risk
A high-risk identification program can be an emotional journey for patients. Dr. Banks categorizes the impact into two groups:
- First, there are patients who are considered average risk, which often leads to a sense of relief knowing they can continue with routine cancer screening. Since changes in personal and family history can modify their risk assessment, patients are encouraged to update their assessment yearly, so no patient is overlooked as time goes on.
- Then, there are those identified as high-risk. While the news is significant, the program provides them with something invaluable: a plan. Instead of facing their risks alone, patients have champions—a clinical team and system to support them to take proactive ownership of their health.
If You’re Serious About Proactive Care, Start Now
For other healthcare systems who also acknowledge this need for proactive care, Dr. Banks offers a simple message: start now. Healthcare is moving inexorably toward precision health and early detection. However, clinical desire isn't enough: success requires high-level alignment.
"These programs simply don’t work if you don’t have the CEO, the Chief Medical Officer, and the head of oncology on board," says Dr. Banks. When senior leadership views high-risk identification as a strategic priority rather than a siloed project, cultural and operational transformation follows.
Proactive Care Is the Future
The Christ Hospital serves as a blueprint for what is possible when data and scalable workflows intersect with leadership commitment and the right partner. CARE brings equitable, proactive care to a current clinical reality, resulting in more lives saved from cancer in Cincinnati. As the industry continues to shift toward prevention, those who invest in these programs today will be the leaders of the healthcare landscape tomorrow.
