How innovative testing is helping Mercy screen for cancer early — 3 key takeaways

In an interactive session hosted by GRAIL at Becker's 11th Annual CEO + CFO Roundtable, Roni Christopher, DHSc, senior director of care delivery at GRAIL, and Adam Whitten, vice president of operations at Mercy (St. Louis), discussed how multi-cancer early detection testing can support health systems and patient outcomes.

The speakers drew from Mercy's experience with Galleri, GRAIL's multi-cancer early detection test, which has enabled testing access for thousands of the health system's patients over the last year and a half. During the session, Dr. Christopher and Mr. Whitten shared how Mercy has developed a centrally managed team to handle patient inquiries about the testing service and to provide support for primary care providers. They also shared key lessons learned from the partnership, including patients' interest in early testing, the importance of digital access points, and strategies that can help to address the cost of testing. 

Editor's note: Quotes have been edited for length and clarity.

Key takeaways:

1: Multi-cancer early detection is a game changer for cancer.

Roni Christopher, DHSc: "Nearly 70% of deaths are caused by cancers that don’t have recommended screenings, and those represent some of the deadliest cancers including pancreatic, esophageal, ovarian, and liver. It's imperative that we think about how we help people get ahead of cancer — from something that is scary and deadly to something that is manageable and more like a chronic disease. The earlier it is caught, the more likely we are to see better survival rates. That's really at the core of our mission at GRAIL: To detect cancer early, when it can be cured.”

2: Patients are interested and engaged in multi-cancer early detection testing.

Adam Whitten: "About 80% of the patients that came for multi-cancer early detection testing engaged Mercy directly. They went online, filled out forms and took control of their own care and inquired about the service and decided to take that step. I've been surprised at how many patients were interested in our services." 

3: Improving accessibility of innovative testing is crucial for patients and providers alike.

AW: "As we thought about how to set up services, we wanted to make sure it was not only easy for our patients to access it, but it was easy for our providers to have an outlet to support those questions, answers and the care delivery for it. Services had to be easily accessible to all."

For Important Safety Information, visit galleri.com/safety-information

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