New Dana-Farber Care Card offers convenience and support

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute patients, families, visitors, and staff now have a new option to make purchases in and around the Longwood campus – and another way to help a friend or family member going through cancer.

The Dana-Farber Care Card, a free, reloadable spending card, is now available at Friends’ Place in the Yawkey Center for Cancer Care lobby, as well as online at: www.dana-farber.org/carecard. It allows users to make cashless purchases for parking, food, and other services around Dana-Farber. Once a card is activated, friends and family can add value through a secure online account center.

“Based on our research, we are the first health care facility in the country to offer this type of benefit, and our advisory councils are excited about its potential,” says Renee Siegel, MSW, LCSW, program lead for the Dana-Farber Patient Family Advisory Councils and the Eleanor and Maxwell Blum Patient and Family Resource Center. “Patients often feel uncomfortable seeking help with expenses they incur when undergoing cancer treatment; now they can give their Care Card number to their friends and family, and people will be able to support them.”

The Care Card was first conceived by Pediatric Family Advisory Council member Karen Rossman several years ago when her daughter was going through treatment at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. According to Rossman, it was actually a college visit with her son that sparked the idea.

“Listening to how the school ID cards could be used to pay for books, food, copies, laundry, and more, I recognized the potential benefits of such a system for Dana-Farber patient families,” says Rossman, now co-chair of the pediatric PFAC. “It could help defer costs, take away concerns about always carrying money, and provide a way to track your spending. It’s incredible to see that vision becoming a reality.”

The Care Card will be particularly helpful to patient families incurring regular expenses – such as parking during chemotherapy or radiation appointments – or needing to purchase costly items such as wigs.

“A patient or any family member taking that patient to appointments can use the Care Card to pay for parking, breakfast or lunch, and other items, and those who can’t physically be there to help a patient can go online to purchase a card for them – or add money to an existing card,” says Flynn.