Member Update: A Statement Regarding Women’s Cancer News

SGO continuously examines ways to provide members with timely clinical trial results, pertinent news articles related to patient care, and other articles of interest in health care. One way we have done this is through collaboration with Bulletin Healthcare, a vendor that produces the daily bulletin called Women’s Cancer News. This service has been viewed as a benefit to many members: a quick summary of articles related to gynecologic cancer care and research available across media platforms.

While the experience with Bulletin Healthcare’s daily bulletins has been positive overall, a few recent article selections have raised concerns amongst our members for misrepresenting trial conclusions and providing inaccurate information. In response to voiced concerns and bulletin issues, we have attempted to clarify our relationship with Bulletin Healthcare for our members and have extensively explored service improvement opportunities.

Clarifying our relationship with Bulletin Healthcare and Women’s Cancer News:

We highlight that SGO does not endorse the articles that appear in the daily bulletin, nor the views they express. We strive to maintain an ethical relationship with Bulletin Healthcare, specifically, limiting the impact of marketing to members in a way that could be biased. We have removed “SGO” from the sender name and masthead, reinforced the service disclaimer in the daily e-mail, and ensured members may opt-out of this service at any time.

Exploring service improvement opportunities:

More intensive vetting of the news content was explored but was determined infeasible due to daily time constraints for this service. A weekly email was considered to allow for content review, but we continued to see the value of the daily email for members. Another vendor was vetted but it was determined that their services were not superior to our current vendor.

We recognize that on occasion, less favorable content may be circulated. We acknowledge that this content is available to all including our patients and our peers, and member access to it remains beneficial. This content could serve as a springboard for discussion with the article authors or as a starting point for discussions with patients.

We encourage all members to bring any issues regarding Women’s Cancer News to our attention. Please reach out at any time with concerns or questions.

Erin Medlin, MD
Chair, Communications Committee
erinmedlin@gmail.com

Mark Einstein, MD, MS
Co-Chair, Communications Committee
einstein.mark@gmail.com