The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), in partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), is launching a new Cancer Collective Action Collaborative. This three‑year effort will mobilize healthcare and community partners to drive meaningful, sustainable change in access to and participation in oncology clinical trials, with a particular emphasis on lung and breast cancer.
“Removing barriers to clinical trials is both an imperative and an opportunity within our reach,” said Shannon Stephens, MPH, IHI’s Interim Vice President of Health Equity. “By valuing the lived expertise of patients alongside the clinical expertise of providers and taking a coordinated, collaborative approach, we can advance more equitable care and create sustainable change across the cancer care ecosystem.”
Building on the foundation established by the Rise to Health Coalition, the Collaborative will bring together 24 teams across the healthcare ecosystem to address clinical trial participation barriers among populations disproportionately affected by cancer. Through shared learning and coordinated action, teams will improve how health systems connect eligible patients to clinical trial opportunities; build reliable and inclusive pathways; strengthen patient and community engagement and trust; equip care teams and community partners; and leverage data to support continuous learning and improvement.
“At BMS, we believe that every person should have the opportunity to benefit from our medicines and innovation, no matter who they are, where they live, or what they have,” said Andrew Whitehead, Vice President, Head of Population Health at BMS. “The Cancer Collective Action Collaborative is an extension of our Population Health strategy, which shapes how we work to ensure access to care, including clinical trials that reflect the populations affected by disease.”
The Challenge: Advancing Access and Participation in Oncology Clinical Trials
Cancer outcomes remain unequal across the United States. Black women are 38 percent more likely to die from breast cancer than White women, despite slightly lower incidence rates. Lung cancer mortality remains 14 percent higher among Black men than White men. Rural residents have significantly higher cancer incidence and mortality, such as 40 percent higher lung cancer risk, due to limited access to oncologists, fewer screening services, and longer travel distances for treatment.
Patients also face unequal opportunities to participate in clinical trials. Approximately 80 percent of patients with cancer receive care from community oncologists, yet participation in clinical research remains uneven across care settings. Research has found that just 4.1 percent of patients at community cancer programs enroll in cancer treatment trials, compared with 21.6 percent at National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers. Racial, ethnic, and geographic differences in clinical trial participation further underscore the importance of addressing barriers associated with trial availability, recruitment processes, access to information, distance, and coordination across healthcare systems.
“We cannot expect different outcomes if we continue to rely on the same approaches to clinical trial recruitment,” said Dr. Megan Wanzo, Director of Global Patient Inclusion and Recruitment at BMS, who is leading the company’s work on the Cancer Collective Action Collaborative. “Improving participation in oncology research requires us to examine how we make trials accessible, how we engage with communities, and how we equip health systems to connect patients to research opportunities. The opportunity before us is to move beyond identifying barriers to collectively changing the systems that sustain them.”
Through an in-person and virtual learning community, the Collaborative will bring together the following stakeholders to align efforts toward the Quintuple Aim for cancer care:
- Health and healthcare organizations
- Oncology practices
- Community cancer centers
- Community-based organizations
- Patient advocacy organizations
- People with lived experience
Apply to Join the Collaborative
IHI and BMS have completed the first phase of the initiative, co‑designing the Collaborative using evidence‑based improvement strategies to support effective collective action. With this foundation in place, IHI and BMS invite organizations to apply to join the Collaborative by November 30, 2026. Review the application details and apply here: https://go.ihi.org/4jyf3jT. For questions, contact healthequity@ihi.org.
About the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) is a leading, globally recognized not-for-profit healthcare improvement organization that has been applying evidence-based quality improvement methods to meet current and future healthcare challenges for more than 30 years. IHI provides millions of people in healthcare with methods, tools, and resources to make care better, safer, and more equitable; convenes experts to enable knowledge sharing and peer-learning; and advises health systems and hospitals of all sizes in improving their systems and outcomes at scale. IHI’s mission is to innovate and lead transformational improvement in health and healthcare worldwide.
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