Current Physician Compensation Models Prevent Shift to Pay-for-Value
February 4th 2014Although 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.
Read More
An Enhanced Health Information Exchange Manages Costs and Improves Care
January 31st 2014Creating 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.
Read More
Survey of First-year ACOs Reveals Operational Challenges with CMS Data
January 29th 2014Accessing 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.
Read More
Geron Looks to Break Through With Telomerase Inhibitor Imetelstat
January 28th 2014Some 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.
Read More
Patient Flow, Efficiency Tied Up with Office Profitability
January 27th 2014While hospitals and cancer centers are taking cues from the hospitality industry-think hoteliers like Marriott, Hyatt, and even Ritz-Carlton-office practices are learning that improving the patient flow aids in running an efficient office. That is translating into increased profitability.
Read More
Anti-PD-1 Antibody Pidilizumab Shows Promise in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma
January 17th 2014The anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody pidilizumab showed promising clinical activity and was safely administered to patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma after autologous hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation.
Read More
Overuse of Bone Scans Demonstrated in Low- and Intermediate-Risk Patients with Prostate Cancer
January 17th 2014Researchers in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of North Carolina Hospitals found that almost one-third of low-risk and almost one-half of intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients received a staging bone scan.
Read More
Is it Time to Integrate Revenue Cycle Management Systems Into Your Practice?
January 7th 2014With the October deadline for ICD-10 transition looming, now might be the time to consider integrating current electronic health records systems with clinically-driven revenue cycle management (RCM) software.
Read More
Study: Degarelix Before Leuprolide Can Eliminate Testosterone Surge
December 31st 2013Patients who undergo androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) to manage advanced prostate cancer will often face the prospect of a potentially dangerous testosterone surge before the downregulation of leuteinizing hormone (LH) secretion occurs and, within about 3 weeks, testosterone drops to castration-like levels.
Read More
Significant Changes to Reimbursement Rates in Breast Cancer for 2014
December 31st 2013Although the changeover to using ICD-10 billing codes won't be mandatory until October 1, 2014, there are many coding changes to consider starting on January 1. Specifically, the reimbursement rate for some genetic testing and imaging involving breast cancer will see significant changes.
Read More
What to Do About Long-term Follow-up Care Among Cancer Survivors
December 30th 2013As new cancer therapies have prolonged life, an interesting question has arisen among community oncologists: "Is it better to transfer long-term cancer survivors to general practitioners or develop clinics for long-term survivors within cancer centers?"
Read More
Fine Print of Budget Deal Doesn't Bode Well for SGR Overhaul
December 19th 2013The tiny "raise" touted in the latest temporary fix to Medicare's Sustainable Growth Rate, which was wrapped inside the bipartisan budget deal headed to President Obama's desk, is anything but good news for oncologists.
Read More