Company: Oncology Rehab Partners, Northborough, MA, U.S.A.
Entry Submitted By: Mediabuzz Publicity
Company Description: Oncology Rehab Partners is an innovative healthcare company with a mission to improve survivorship care in the U.S. The company was founded in 2009 by Dr. Julie Silver and Diane Stokes, MBA, and employs eight people. Dr. Silver and Ms. Stokes were recently named to Bloomberg Businessweek's list of “America’s Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs 2012” for bringing cancer rehab to all those in need.
Nomination Category: Company/Organization Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Company of the Year – Business Services – 10 or Less Employees

Nomination Title: Oncology Rehab Partners

Describe for the judges the activities and accomplishments of the nominated organization since the beginning of July last year (up to 500 words):

If Julie Silver had suffered a stroke or was injured in a car accident, her doctor would have sent her for rehabilitation. If she had survived nearly any serious illness, or even a minor injury, she would have been referred to rehab to expedite her recovery.

Instead, when Dr. Silver was 38 and mother of three, she had breast cancer. After surgery and chemotherapy, she was discharged from treatment without a follow up care plan. When she looked to our healthcare system for support, there were no rehab programs in place to help her recover.

Faced with post-treatment symptoms that left her too sick to care for her children or return to work, Dr. Silver, a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation, began to wonder why the same principles of rehab widely recognized as beneficial in fields such as cardiac and orthopedic medicine were not being applied to oncology. Cancer treatments cause debilitating physical and emotional problems that can plague survivors for a lifetime.

To address this medical shortfall, in 2009 Dr. Silver founded Massachusetts-based Oncology Rehab Partners and created the STAR Program® Certification, which provides hospitals and cancer centers with the tools needed (education and training, and evaluation and treatment protocols) to implement evidence-based cancer rehab services for survivors who suffer the side effects of treatments.

In February 2011, the American College of Surgeons’ Commission on Cancer (CoC) revised its Cancer Program Standards (CPS) to require each of its 1,400 accredited hospitals to offer survivors a follow-up “care plan” that includes cancer rehab services. STAR Program Certification is the only turnkey service that enables institutions to establish or expand their own oncology rehab programs quickly and efficiently, using a best- practices model. Care provided to patients is typically covered by health insurance, making this a win-win for patients and healthcare providers.

Healthcare facilities in 30 states have already implemented STAR Program Certification. And in October 2011, Dr. Silver initiated a national movement in healthcare. Oncology Rehab Partners made history by mounting the country’s first statewide cancer rehab initiative in Rhode Island, bringing STAR Program Certification to 20 institutions and thousands of survivors in that state. The initiative, endorsed by the American Cancer Society, involved a commitment from healthcare leadership across the care continuum, and the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource Foundation provided partial funding.

A statewide cancer rehab initiative in Massachusetts, just launched by Oncology Rehab Partners, will allow the 345,000 cancer survivors in that state increased access to crucial rehabilitation services to help them heal from cancer treatments. The American Cancer Society has endorsed this initiative and The Friends of Mel Foundation will help fund the effort.

With two statewide initiatives already under their belts, and more in the works, Dr. Silver and her business partner were recently named to Bloomberg/Businessweek's list of “America’s Most Promising Social Entrepreneurs 2012.”

STAR Program Certification is enabling rehab services to proliferate, making it possible for survivors to live full, active lives. This has far-reaching psychosocial implications: families become functional again, employees return to work, insurers pay less toward long-term health problems resulting from poor healing, and states are spared interminable disability payouts.

Provide a brief biography of the person or persons who lead the nominated company (up to 100 words):

Julie Silver, MD is an assistant professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School. She is on staff at three Harvard teaching institutions: Spaulding, Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s Hospitals. Dr. Silver is an award-winning author of over a dozen books on health and healing. She is a recipient of the American Cancer Society’s Lane Adams Quality of Life award, and an honoree of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center’s THE ONE HUNDRED, given to the top 100 individuals in the U.S. making a difference in cancer care. Dr. Silver was also just named a Globe 100 "Top Innovator in Medicine 2012" by the Boston Globe.

At least 50% of the shares in this company are owned by women.