# Color and Maven partner to make fertility planning a routine part of cancer care. [Learn more](/content/blog/supporting-oncofertility-care-with-maven/index.html) ## This map should make you mad Source: The Chartis Center for Rural Health, December 2024 If you’ve got employees in rural zip codes, this data is a wake-up call: - 432 rural hospitals are vulnerable to closure - 424 have eliminated chemotherapy services - 60%+ of [Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs)](https://www.chartis.com/sites/default/files/documents/CCRH%20WP%20-%202025%20Rural%20health%20state%20of%20the%20state_021125.pdf) are in rural America **The question isn’t _if_ your workforce is affected–it’s _how badly_.** ## Cancer care hasn’t kept up–especially in rural America Cancer care is one of the last areas in medicine still largely built around in-person access. And for rural employees, that’s a problem. Traditional benefits–prevention programs, navigation, even virtual care–often aren’t designed with cancer’s complexity in mind. They don’t account for what happens when care can’t come to you. Cancer magnifies every rural access challenge. Here’s how: 1. **Later detection and diagnosis:** No local screening means later-stage diagnoses, which are hard–and more expensive–to treat 2. **Delayed or missed care during treatment:** Rural patients are [2x more likely](https://www.chartis.com/sites/default/files/documents/CCRH%20WP%20-%202025%20Rural%20health%20state%20of%20the%20state_021125.pdf) to miss treatment appointments due to travel, [leading to worse outcomes](https://jnccn.org/view/journals/jnccn/21/1/article-p21.xml?) 3. **No access to survivorship care:** Only seven NCI-designated cancer centers offer dedicated survivorship clinics, leaving long-term care out of reach for most The current care system isn’t working for rural communities. It’s time for a benefits strategy that meets people where they are, not where we wish they lived. ## What to do when “in-network” is out of reach If the “network” is two hours away, it may as well not exist. But here’s the good news: The tools to close rural cancer gaps already exist–at every phase of the journey. The real question is: **Are you making use of them?** Technology available today can deliver: - **Guidelines-based cancer screenings available from home**–no travel, no delays - **Always-on telehealth with oncology specialists** because symptoms don’t follow a schedule - **Proactive symptom management during treatment** to catch issues before they become emergencies - **Virtual survivorship care** delivered with the same quality you’d find at top cancer centers - **Online peer support groups** to reduce isolation and support long-term engagement These aren’t future-state ideas. They’re working today. And yes, Color brings them all together. ## How Color shows up when hospitals can’t Our Virtual Cancer Clinic isn’t a nice-to-have–it’s a must-have when care deserts and long drives stand in the way of screenings, treatment, and survival: - Home screenings turn “maybe later” into “right now” - [Cancer Copilot](/content/copilot/index.html) puts oncology expertise in motion early, helping inform care plans and reduce time to treatment - A care team that’s ready when your employees need answers 24/7, not just navigation, but real support in real time - Support for transportation, lodging, and financial challenges because employees in rural ZIP codes often face significantly higher out-of-pocket costs just to access care ## Bottom line: If your cancer benefit isn’t reaching every employee, it’s not working Delays in care don’t just cost dollars–they cost time your employees can’t get back. You can’t control geography. But you _can_ control what cancer care looks like when they need it most. _Reach out at_ [_learnmore@color.com_](mailto:learnmore@color.com) _to chat with our team about offering the Virtual Cancer Clinic to your employees.