January 2016

Having an evidence package at launch that satisfies payers’ value criteria will increase the likelihood that payers will reimburse the drug at a desirable price and enable patient access to innovative treatments.

Competition, consolidation and attrition have reduced the number of oncology players in the Salt Lake City region, but business has never been better at Utah Cancer Specialists.

More models of care are beginning to show signs of recognition that palliative care has a larger role to play in the oncology setting.

Looking back on 2015 in the field of oncology practice, a lot of the groundwork was laid for what the Association of Community Cancer Centers predicted in a fall report: “increased reliance on team-based care and care provided by nonphysicians.”

One best practice identified for transforming quality, safety and efficiency in healthcare is the use of clinical decision support tools.

Unsuccessful efforts have been made to improve the quality of information provided to consumers about advertised drugs, and against that backdrop, the American Medical Association has called for an outright ban on direct-to-consumer drug advertising.

As more studies link aggressive end-of-life oncology care to problems such as suboptimal cost and quality outcomes, experts are increasingly proposing earlier, more comprehensive palliative care interventions.

Tremendous consolidation of remaining independent oncology practices is very likely under scenarios.

The high cost of deductibles and copays under Affordable Care Act health exchange policies is a barrier in oncological care that renders the discussion of patient involvement in therapy choices somewhat moot.