Tony Berberabe, MPH

New research suggests that spending on anticancer agents is moderating, going against national trends that suggest an uptick in the US prescription drug expenditures this year.

With the adoption of a patient engagement initiative, Gwinnett Medical Center in Atlanta was able to improve the billing experience for 86% of patients surveyed.

Repealing the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula, a mechanism Congress enacted in 1997 to limit Medicare costs, is going to leave taxpayers with a bill of $60 billion from 2014 through 2019, and a total of $138 billion through 2024.

Bavituximab, Peregrine Pharmaceuticals' lead clinical immunotherapeutic candidate, received Fast Track designation from the FDA to kick off 2014.

Bucking a trend reported for many years, new compensation data suggest the gap between what primary care physicians are paid and what medical and surgical specialists are paid is decreasing.

Hospitals and medical centers that provide chemotherapy infusion services to their cancer patients on an outpatient basis generally get paid more than oncologists and hematologists who provide the same services in a private office.

Improvements in quality of care and reductions in hospitalizations were minimal

More and more solo practices are facing a transformation that is neither small nor simple in the current accountable care environment.

Results from the final report of the 2013 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Security Survey suggest that physician practices and health care organizations such as hospitals view their own staff members as the greatest source of patient information and confidentiality security breaches.

Galena Biopharma is looking to expand its presence in the oncology field by developing and acquiring targeted cancer agents.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is caving to pressure from the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association, and the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) to conduct far more extensive end-to-end testing to assure proper adjudication and payment of claims as the October 1 deadline for the ICD-10 transition looms

Vemurafenib (Zelboraf), a BRAF inhibitor approved to treat melanoma, induced a complete clinical remission in a patient with hairy cell leukemia.

Traditionally, palliative care for patients with cancer is geared towards end-of-life measures, but a new study from the Princess Margaret Cancer Center in Toronto suggests patients who receive palliative care earlier in their cancer therapy report improved quality of life and greater satisfaction.

Providing access to health information technology and health information exchanges isn't always enough to avoid ordering duplicative tests

High-tech eyewear could soon help surgeons remove tumors from patients with breast cancer or melanoma by allowing them to see the margins of tumors more accurately when a dye is used to fluoresce a tumor's borders.

To reduce the costs of cancer, community oncologists increase the use of evidence-based treatments, standardize care with pathways, transition away from fee-for-service, and change communication with patients about reasonable end-of-life care.

Oncology practices looking to update their EHR to be ICD-10 compliant are facing an even greater cost than originally estimated.

Biopharmaceutical companies that administer patient assistance programs (PAPs) well in terms of service and support parameters seem to benefit from a halo effect among their oncologist customers, according to "PAP Utilization in Cancer Care," a Cogent Reports survey from Market Strategies International, a market research company.

Providers who are eligible to participate in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) electronic health record (EHR) incentive program have a one month reprieve to show that their practices are using the technology in a meaningfully useful way.

Removing a wider margin around the edge of a cancerous breast tumor can potentially reduce additional breast surgeries and improve patient outcomes.

Lawmakers have moved to reform Medicare's troublesome physician payment formula with an update that uses a single conversion factor to determine the physician fee schedule.

Genmab, the publicly traded, international biotechnology company, has an oncology pipeline that focuses on two classes of drugs: naked antibodies and antibody drug conjugates

A news story from Bloomberg Business News suggests that insurers who are participating in government-run health insurance exchanges will be required to increase "essential community providers" in their local geographic area by 30% by 2015.

Although new physician compensation models promote pay-for-value, episodic bundles, and risk-adjusted bundles, physicians in non-solo practices are compensated using four methods: base salary, compensation based on personal productivity, compensation based on practice financial performance, and bonus based on factors other than personal productivity and practice financial performance.

A survey about physician practice readiness for the upcoming ICD-10 deadline suggests that half will only start preparing in May 2014 for the transition.

Creating an enhanced, common health information exchange (HIE) pipeline where clinicians, payers, and patients share structured information from multiple electronic medical record/electronic record platforms would effectively manage costs and enhance patient care in oncology, according to a recent paper published in the Journal of Oncology Practice.

An updated analysis, conducted after 11 years of observation, demonstrated continued improved outcomes with the addition of radiotherapy to oral antiandrogen therapy in men with locally advanced prostate cancer.

Accessing and processing data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) is the leading operational challenge faced by accountable care organizations (ACOs), according to a large-scale survey conducted by the National Association of ACOs.

Some researchers believe the uncontrolled cell division that defines cancer is a characteristic of damage that occurs at the telomeres, the protective caps at the end of the chromosomes that contain the cell's genetic material.

While hospitals and cancer centers are taking cues from the hospitality industry, office practices are learning that improving the patient flow aids in running an efficient office.