A patient-centered approach to lung cancer care TheoryLab

As a clinician and researcher, Efren Flores, MD, is dedicated to helping everyone, including the most vulnerable populations, prevent and treat lung cancer. In this conversation, Dr. Flores talks about health equity and disparities, the barriers that patients are faced with, and the importance of coordinated care. He also speaks eloquently about the stigma that some lung cancer patients have to deal with and how, “medical conditions don’t define people. Nobody is defined by cancer.”

Efren Flores, MD, is a radiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Instructor in Radiology at Harvard Medical School, where he’s the Officer for Community Health and Equity. He’s also a member of the National Lung Cancer Roundtable, a coalition of leading professional, government and non-governmental organizations working to accelerate the nation's efforts to reduce mortality from lung cancer.

4:30 – On health equity and health disparities, the critical issue of missed appointments in radiology, and some of the barriers patients have to overcome

11:32 – What patient outreach looks like in lung cancer

14:42 – How mental health clinicians could be key to advancing lung cancer screening for a hard-to-reach population

16:53 – The importance of coordinated patient care

20:34 – The National Lung Cancer Roundtable and how it can help vulnerable patient populations

25:20 – What he wishes people knew about lung cancer

27:04 – The impact of American Cancer Society funding on his research

28:57 – A message he’d like to share with patients