Due to advances in cancer treatment and early detection, the population of cancer survivors continues to grow, reaching more than 18 million individuals in the U.S. By 2035, that number is projected to exceed 22 million.
But many cancer survivors have ongoing medical and mental health needs after cancer treatment ends. Faced with long-term side effects, behavioral health challenges and hormone therapies, many survivors are left to manage these healthcare challenges on their own.
Value-based cancer care navigation company Thyme Care has expanded its cancer survivorship program, called Next Chapter Care, to provide a personalized, longitudinal approach to survivorship support. That program provides coordinated oncology support beyond active treatment for the more than 15,000 Thyme Care members who have completed cancer treatment.
Rather than treating survivorship as a disconnected phase of care, the program extends the existing relationship Thyme Care already has with members across diagnosis, treatment and recovery, according to the company.
Asma Dilawari, M.D., a board-certified medical oncologist, joined Thyme Care last year as medical director of oncology care to lead the company’s survivorship program expansion.
“What I saw as a need, even when I was in clinical practice, was that after initial chemotherapy, radiation, immunotherapy, where you’re seeing a patient in clinic so frequently and trying to get them through this tough treatment, after that, they’re not really the same. They have a lot of long-term effects from all of those things you gave them, and yet we’re not seeing them that much anymore. We say, ‘You’re your cancer’s treated, congratulations.’ And then send them on their way,” Dilawari told Fierce Healthcare. “They were coming back in follow-up visits and had a whole slew of other issues. They weren’t the same issues, necessarily, that they were having during chemotherapy, but they were still bothersome, and some of them included excessive weight gain that was affecting their physical activity, they were fatigued all the time, they still had some side effects, like neuropathy, that impacted how they could do things day to day. Those things are hard to address.”
Through the survivorship program, individuals get dedicated nurse practitioner-led visits focused on medication adherence, emotional and mental health support, cancer surveillance for ongoing healthcare needs, symptom management and lifestyle goals.
While multidisciplinary survivorship support has been part of Thyme Care’s model, the company has now formalized key components of the program, including survivorship care plans and treatment summaries, provider visits and long-term follow-up, according to the company.
The program extends follow-up care from a one-time visit to a longitudinal relationship with a care team, Dilawari said.
“When I came to Thyme Care, I thought this was a huge opportunity for us as a virtual care organization and an organization with so much reach across the country to offer a more long-term relationship,” she said. Dilawari joined Thyme Care following her role as a clinical reviewer at the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). She previously practiced at MedStar and Georgetown/Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, with expertise in breast cancer.
Thyme Care has expanded its survivorship content library and educational resources, giving members additional tools and guidance to take a more active role in managing their long-term health after treatment.
The program also offers wellness education, lifestyle modification support, emotional support, screening and diagnostic support and connection to peer support groups. Through the program, cancer survivors also get ongoing follow-up and flexible engagement options, including phone-based support and self-directed educational resources through Thyme Care Connect.
Founded in 2020, the company, a 2024 Fierce 15 honoree, aims to guide patients through every phase of the “cancer journey,” from the peri-diagnostic period, when they learn that they may have cancer, to the post-diagnostic period. The company partners with health plans, employers and risk-bearing providers to help bring down the cost of cancer care while also improving patients’ health, according to executives.
The company built an integrated oncology infrastructure that reduces friction across the system. It combines 24/7 specialized cancer care navigation services, technology and data insights and oncologist-led therapeutic interventions. Thyme Care’s tech-enabled care team integrates with more than 1,000 oncologists as part of its Thyme Care Oncology Partners for a hybrid collaborative care model, according to the company.
Thyme Care has rapidly scaled its business. At the end of 2024, it was managing 10,000 patients, and that has now grown to 80,000 actively treated cancer patients by September 2025.
Next Chapter Care is delivered through Thyme Care’s multidisciplinary oncology care model, including oncology-trained doctors, nurses, licensed clinical social workers and care navigators. The program leverages Thyme Care’s Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation (ONCC) nursing workforce, upskilled to provide structured survivorship support as part of longitudinal oncology care.
Thyme Care supports members across all 50 states through care teams working alongside more than 1,400 oncologists and partners with national and regional health plans.
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