Healix Health has launched a cancer care pathway for employers, designed to provide support from prevention and early detection through to treatment and life beyond cancer.
The Cancer Care Performance Pathway has been developed with Perci Health and Health Value Alliance, alongside other partners.
It combines prevention and risk assessment, screening and early detection, treatment navigation and long term cancer care within one model.
The launch comes as Healix Health said 1.15 million people of working age are expected to be living with cancer by 2030.
Employees using the pathway will initially receive a personalised health risk assessment, covering cancer and metabolic risk and linking them to relevant risk reduction and screening services.
Those who receive abnormal results will have access to nurse guidance to help them understand the results and next steps.
Following a cancer diagnosis, employees will be assigned a cancer nurse specialist regardless of whether their treatment is being provided through the NHS, privately or across multiple providers.
Healix Health and Perci Health nurses will work together to coordinate support, including signposting and appointment booking.
The pathway also provides prehabilitation and psychological support during treatment. Following active treatment, employees will receive an annual review from a cancer nurse specialist, alongside support for the longer term physical, emotional and practical effects of cancer.
'Remain in work' and 'return to work' planning is included, while specialist cancer support will also be available to loved ones and carers. Line managers can access guidance on supporting employees affected by cancer.
Employers will receive data on cancer risk and use of the pathway across their workforce. This will include information from health risk assessments and claims, alongside data provided through Healix Health's partnership with Health Value Alliance.
Sarah Taylor, director of corporate healthcare proposition at Healix Health, said: "Cancer is one of the biggest health challenges facing UK employers, and it's a challenge that's only building, with more people diagnosed at a younger age and more living, and working, with cancer for longer. The NHS's ten-year Cancer Plan is a welcome step in the right direction, but employers can't wait a decade for that support to arrive.
"That's why we've worked with partners including Perci Health and the Health Value Alliance to build a genuinely first-of-its-kind pathway, bringing proven clinical models and data capability together to support people from prevention right through to life beyond cancer. Prevention is where this really comes into its own. It's where employers stand to save the most, and where cancer can be stopped in its tracks before it ever becomes a costly, disruptive diagnosis."
Kelly McCabe, co founder and CEO at Perci Health, added: "We're proud to be deepening our four-year partnership with Healix Health to launch the Cancer Care Performance Pathway, a market first in cancer care. For the first time, risk assessment, screening, navigation, supportive care and return to work are brought together into one connected pathway, tightly integrated into Healix Health's clinical and claims workflow so people are identified and offered the right support at the right moment, rather than having to find it themselves.
"We wanted to build something different, a connected pathway designed around the person from the outset, rather than a collection of individual services stitched together afterwards. Cancer doesn't happen in neat stages, and the support around someone shouldn't either. It's personalised, proactive and continually measured against real outcomes. This is a significant step forward, but what matters most is what it means for people. Earlier intervention, fewer people falling through the gaps, and more people able to get back to living their lives."
Matt Hickey, co founder and CEO at Health Value Alliance, said: "Healthcare didn’t need another isolated analytics tool. It needed one common Healthcare Performance Intelligence platform capable of reflecting the complex realities of how healthcare is funded, accessed, delivered and measured, while connecting evidence to reveal the whole performance story.
"We are delighted to partner with Healix Health to advance healthcare trust management, starting with the Cancer Care Performance Pathway. By providing a shared view of performance, we can help organisations make better decisions together and act earlier, so that more of the available funding can support prevention and care that delivers lasting benefit for more people. This partnership demonstrates exactly what HVA was created to achieve."
