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NEW YORK PROTON CENTER AND THE WITT GROUP, INC. FORM STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP TO HELP PATIENTS ADDRESS NON-CLINICAL FINANCIAL COSTS OF CANCER CARE
NYPC will be a development partner providing patient and health system feedback to enhance the WiTT Support Registry™ for patients and caregivers
New York, NY — January 9, 2024 — Today, the New York Proton Center (NYPC) and the WiTT Group, Inc. formed a new strategic partnership to help patients navigate the non-clinical challenges of cancer treatment. Through the collaboration, NYPC will be a development partner and provide crucial patient and health system feedback to inform the functionality of the WiTT Support Registry™ and streamline the delivery of financial resources to patients managing diverse challenges.
Social determinants like housing and transportation can be major financial burdens for patients with cancer, adding an extra layer of stress and challenges to the treatment process. WiTT's platform combines elements of a wedding registry and social network to enable patients to verbalize and find support for financial and non-financial challenges. Since NYPC initially adopted the WiTT platform earlier this year, it has distributed more than $30,000 to nearly 70 patients. Housing, transportation, and nutrition have been among the top needs.
"Many patients with cancer face financial hardship. We consistently find that patients and their caregivers are struggling in particular with the non-clinical aspects of cancer care — the transportation, meals, and childcare that are separate from their insured clinical care," said Jonathan Weinbach, CEO of the New York Proton Center. "Our partnership with WiTT will improve our ability to get funds and resources to patients, collect important data around non-clinical patient needs, and improve patient adherence to treatment schedules and overall health outcomes."
"Five months without income strained my family's finances, forcing us to make difficult choices to cover basic living costs. The WiTT platform has been incredibly helpful, and it is wonderful to see that there are such nice people in the world who care," said NYPC patient Joy Brown. "I am amazed by the assistance I am receiving, including a contribution for groceries from a total stranger."
In addition to leveraging the WiTT platform to help NYPC patients address non-clinical financial burdens, lead NYPC researchers have partnered with investigators from the Miami Cancer Institute to advance research on the differences in non-clinical financial needs across patient populations: allowing both organizations to use the platform data to optimize support for those in treatment. The results of the first collaborative research study from NYPC and WiTT's partnership are expected in Q1 2024.
"Patients bring their own financial challenges when they begin cancer treatment. By partnering with WiTT, we gain key new insight into the non-clinical needs of our patients," said Dr. Isabelle Choi, Director of Research and Clinical Director at NYPC. "WiTT's platform enables us to see the individualized needs of patients along with broader trends that can enhance allocation of resources and improve equitable access to treatment."
"We are committed to helping patients focus on their health, not their bank account. WiTT's unique registry platform gives our social work team the ability to more directly address patient needs. Our job is most meaningful when we can help patients directly, and the WiTT platform is a great tool to achieve that," said Chrissy Rubin, LCSW, Social Worker at NYPC.
"We are thrilled to have the New York Proton Center as a strategic partner. As a leading proton therapy center and a partner organization of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Montefiore Health System, and Mount Sinai Health System, NYPC is an obvious choice for this long-term strategic partnership," said Rahul Mahadevan, cancer survivor and CEO and Founder of the WiTT Group, Inc. "Our work with the team at NYPC will allow us to clearly demonstrate the help that we can provide patients for their non-clinical financial needs and act as a proving ground for our impact on patient outcomes."
About the New York Proton Center
The New York Proton Center is creating the gold standard for proton therapy, giving new hope to patients living with cancer. In partnership with leading academic medical centers—Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Montefiore Health System, Mount Sinai Health System—the New York Proton Center brings together expert oncologists, clinical care teams, and researchers to improve cancer care and advance the clinical evidence for proton therapy.
For additional information, please visit www.nyproton.com.
About The WiTT Group, Inc.
The WiTT Group, Inc. is focused on solving the non-clinical challenges (financial and non-financial) patients face as they go through treatment. The company offers a unique Support Registry platform which empowers patients to get the support they need, as well as making it easy to ask for and receive help. WiTT, which stands for "We're in This Together," combines the simplicity of a wedding registry with the personalized needs of a patient and a financial tool, into an easy-to-use platform. WiTT's initial focus is on cancer care.
More information on the WiTT Group can be found at www.wittforever.com.