Earlier this year, health care visionary and entrepreneur Patrick Soon-Shiong announced that Phoenix Children's Hospital would lead the pediatric arm of Cancer Moonshot 2020, the nation's most comprehensive cancer initiative whose goal is to accelerate the potential of combination immunotherapy as the next generation standard of care in cancer patients. This overall program aims to transform cancer care as we know it by initiating randomized Phase II trials in 20 tumor types for 20,000 patients at all stages of disease within the next three years, ultimately developing an effective vaccine-based immunotherapy for cancer by 2020.
A stirring reminder of President Kennedy's call to place an American on the moon, Cancer Moonshot 2020 has the same transformational vision. It calls forth the best minds in the pharmaceutical, scientific, oncology, government, and business communities to defeat cancer.
As head of the Pediatric Consortium, we are partnering with nine world-class children's hospital systems across the nation to advance bench-to-bedside translation of genomic technology to prevent, treat and manage cancer and eventually other chronic and inherited diseases. We expect the consortium membership will grow in the coming year.
Genomic research is only one example of our commitment to innovation at Phoenix Children's. Our 3-D Innovation Laboratory uses a variety of imaging modalities to generate data, which are then reconstructed into three-dimensional images. These images can then be presented digitally or real-to-life using a 3-D printer. The promise of this technology cannot be overstated. For example, in cancer, 3-D imaging provides more accurate measurement of tumor size and volume, allowing our oncologists to determine if treatment is shrinking the malignancy. In the Phoenix Children's Hospital Heart Center, cardiologists are also using this technology to create exact replicas of patients' hearts so cardiothoracic surgeons can plan surgery and unravel any complexities before they lift a scalpel.
Innovation also impacts patient safety. Since the 2011 implementation of our nationally renowned Pediatric Dose Range Checking Safety System, we have virtually eliminated prescription overdose errors. Dr. Vinay Vaidya, our Chief Medical Information Officer, also brought smart infusion pump technology to Phoenix Children's to ensure greater safety in rate, dosage, timing and other factors associated with the delivery of intravenous medications.
These accomplishments align with efforts at children's hospitals nationwide to improve patient safety and quality. As a member of the Children's Hospitals' Solutions for Patient Safety (SPS), Phoenix Children's collaborates with leading pediatric health systems to create a universally safe and healing environment for children by significantly reducing hospital-acquired conditions, readmissions and serious safety events. While research, technology and patient safety initiatives hold enormous potential, perhaps the most innovative development is in clinical integration. Phoenix Children's Care Network (PCCN) is a strategic physician-hospital system alignment offering patients access to more than 800 providers, accounting for half of all general pediatricians across the Phoenix metropolitan area. PCCN is comprised predominantly of community-based physicians, all of them sharing the goal of delivering the right care, at the right time, in the right setting.
The PCCN methodology is based on moving from the traditional fee-for-service model to value-based contracting. Simply put, the days of payers entering into one-off contracts with individual practices are numbered, falling victim to guidelines of the Accountable Care Act and the growing desire of health insurers to partner with larger physician-hospital organizations that are better equipped to improve care while controlling costs. With physician reimbursements tied directly to quality performance, clinically integrated organizations will necessarily drive improvements in care coordination, health information exchange requirements, transparency, communication and physician engagement. Value-based arrangements such as PCCN are already showing promise through improved care and cost savings.
Innovation is not just an empty buzzword attached to promises of more effective, lower-cost pediatric care and cutting-edge technology. Rather, efforts like Moonshot, patient safety initiatives that deliver on their goal of reducing harm to children, and clinical integration are changing the face of pediatric care. Children's hospital systems place collaboration, strategic thought and a commitment to entrepreneurism at the core of their collective vision and continue to leverage their assets and talents to develop and deliver superior pediatric outcomes.
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H. Stacy Nicholson, MD, MPH, is Physician in Chief at Phoenix Children's and is accountable for leadership and direction to the medical specialty divisions. He also provides executive oversight to Phoenix Children's medical education initiatives and programs, and is responsible for the strategic direction and growth of research at Phoenix Children's.
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