Arizona Facing Crisis as Cancer Diagnoses Increase & Physician Retention Falls

Arizona’s rate of cancer diagnoses is expected to climb over the next year, and although the industry has made strides in cancer care, partially supported by President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot, physician retention issues pose a significant threat to providing adequate treatment for an increasing volume of patients.

Arizona is expected to receive 42,670 new cancer diagnoses this year, up 1,500 from last year. According to Axios, cancer researchers are struggling to account for why young people are reporting higher rates of colon cancer, and the state’s cancer rate is boosted by a higher likelihood of skin cancer.

President Joe Biden’s Cancer Moonshot has logged a significant success by persuading some large private insurers like Aetna, Elevance Health and Humana to cover costs for cancer navigator services. USA Today explains that cancer navigators guide cancer patients and their families through the complex process of arranging medical appointments and deciphering complex drug treatments after diagnosis.

The Mayo Clinic, which specializes in part in cancer care, boasted a record number of patients, clinical trial participation and program development in 2023. It is also continuing work on Arizona Bold. Forward. Unbound., which will more than double the size of its Arizona campus.

But Mayo alone can’t conquer the issue of specialty physician recruitment and retention. According to an op-ed in CancerNetwork, provider demoralization has escalated recruitment and retention into a crisis. This is in part due to overall physician pay falling, led by Medicare reimbursement rates failing to keep track with inflation.