Oncology Business Management

In a recent interview with Oncology Business ManagementTM, Peter Aran, MD, medical director of population health management for BlueCross BlueShield of Oklahoma, discussed participation in the Oncology Care Model from CMS, which is designed to improve the quality and value of care.

As CMS moves ahead with payment reforms designed to reduce the total cost of hospital care, the results from a new study show that cancer treatment remains much less expensive at community oncology clinics than at hospitals and that the spending gap between the 2 types of sites may be growing wider.

Oncology providers contend that the sweeping $1.5 trillion in tax cuts sought by Republicans would trigger sequester cuts that would drive more independent practices out of business and reduce patient access to care.

A. David McCollum, MD, physician, Texas Oncology, discusses treatment options in the first-line setting for patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).

The FDA has approved sunitinib (Sutent) for use as an adjuvant therapy in patients with renal cell carcinoma who have received nephrectomy and are high risk for recurrence.

The FDA announced that it has approved the IMPACT tumor profiling assay, while also making it easier for some device manufacturers to bring their products to market.

Bayer and Loxo Oncology have entered into a partnership to develop and market larotrectinib (LOXO-101) and LOXO-195 in the United States and worldwide.

The personalization of cancer care is more elaborately expressed in multidisciplinary tumor conferences and clinical trials.

The FDA has approved brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) as a treatment for patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma who have received prior systemic therapy.

Clinical trials help community practices attract patients, inspire oncologists, and lower costs, but forming a program can be daunting to the uninitiated.

Texas Oncology and Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute knew their ability to recover from hurricanes Harvey and Irma would hinge upon the work they did before either storm arrived.

Oncofertility is the specialty dealing with the clinical care of patients who will lose their fertility due to cancer treatment.

While providing information on the cancer and treatment gets a little easier with time, empathizing and accepting the emotions that patients and their families express does not.

The hood for handling biologics isn't vented to the outdoors, and there’s no negative-pressure room to safely contain and exhaust potentially tainted air.

Alternative payment models (APMs) are the future of Medicare payment.

The FDA has granted GSK2857916 a breakthrough therapy designation for patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma.

A newly announced CMS policy to redistribute savings under the 340B Drug Discount Program so that Medicare beneficiaries save money on copayments has garnered a mixture of praise and criticism from supporters and critics of the program.

Antineoplastic drug therapy has been delivered by the oral route since the earliest days of the modern chemotherapeutic era.

Successfully attaining our goals in fellowship is demanding. They are accomplished by establishing work/life balance.

Novartis has filed a supplemental biologics license application with the FDA to expand the indication for tisagenlecleucel (Kymriah) to include adults with relapsed/refractory DLBCL who are ineligible for ASCT.

As many hard-pressed physician practices have been doing in the present healthcare environment, our oncology practice also had to take a hard look at our operational design, strategy for the future, and sustainability.

Novartis has announced a planned $3.9-billion acquisition of Advanced Accelerator Applications, a radiopharmaceutical company that develops, produces, and commercializes Molecular Nuclear Medicines.

In community oncology, the complexity and cost of therapy and therapy administration have caused the cost of delivering a service to rise disproportionately relative to actual payment.

As the Oncology Care Model practices work to reduce Medicare’s overall spending on those patients and to earn shared savings payments, the data are providing them with an unprecedented full picture of the extent and cost of care.

Sibel Blau, MD, medical oncology provider, medical director, Hematology/Oncology, Northwest Medical Specialties, discusses a value-based care model for oncology at the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) National Oncology Conference.