COA's OCM 2.0: Moving Toward a Universal Payment Model
October 30th 2018The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) has been working with its member practices and some payer partners who have successfully implemented innovative care delivery and payment models to develop a 2.0 version of CMS’ Oncology Care Model (OCM). A progress report was presented at COA’s Payer Exchange Summit held October 29-30 in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia.
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Community Practices Continue to Struggle With ED Use, Risk Stratification in OCM
October 30th 2018While practice transformation is vital, community-based clinics continue to struggle with emergency department (ED) use, hospitalization, and risk stratification as they identify ways to reduce unnecessary expenditures within their Oncology Care Model (OCM) practice.
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Ted Okon Highlights the 3 Top Legislative Priorities for COA
May 9th 2018There are 3 legislative priorities for the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) that keep the focus on the patient and ensure better care, explained Ted Okon, executive director of COA, at the 2018 Community Oncology Conference.
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Dr Ray Page Discusses the Surprise of the First OCM Results
April 23rd 2018Ray Page, DO, PhD, president and director of research at The Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders and chair-elect of the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s (ASCO) Clinical Practice Committee discusses the first results of the Oncology Care Model (OCM) and ASCO’s top legislative priorities.
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Dr Houston Holmes Discusses CAR T Therapy Adoption and Education
April 21st 2018With chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy being so new, there is going to be a learning curve as providers become more educated about the treatments, the manufacturing process, and the toxicities, Houston Holmes, MD, MBA, FACP, a medical oncologist with Texas Oncology, explained at the Community Oncology Alliance’s (COA) 2018 Community Oncology Conference.
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Raising Employer Awareness on Cost and Value in Cancer Care
April 15th 2018How are large employers adapting to, and benefiting from, the value-based care practices that are a payer demand and a provider imperative? This was the focus of a panel moderated by Bo Gamble, director of Strategic Practice Initiatives, Community Oncology Alliance (COA), during the 2018 Community Oncology Conference hosted by COA, April 12-13 in National Harbor, Maryland.
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Panelists Discuss Key Issues in Community Oncology Affecting Patients and Practices
April 13th 2018A panel of providers discussed key advocacy issues that affect patients and practices and could improve access to care and costs during the 2018 Community Oncology Conference, hosted by the Community Oncology Alliance, April 12-13 in National Harbor, Maryland.
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Dr Ray Page Outlines Policy Priorities to Improve Access to Cancer Treatments
April 13th 2018Ray Page, DO, PhD, president and director of research at The Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders and chair-elect of the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s (ASCO) Clinical Practice Committee, provides a look at legislation to improve patient access to treatments and address drug pricing in cancer care.
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Ted Okon Pushes for More Transparency Around Pharmacy Benefit Managers
April 13th 2018There is currently a lack of transparency with pharmacy benefit managers around drug prices and where the rebates for drugs are going, but Congress is pushing for greater transparency that will benefit patients, said Ted Okon, executive director of the Community Oncology Alliance.
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Gene Therapy in Community Practices—Administering CAR T Therapies
April 13th 2018How are community practices coping with administering chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T treatments? At the 2018 Community Oncology Conference hosted by the Community Oncology Alliance, Houston Holmes, MD, MBA, FACP, Texas Oncology, shared his experience with administering CAR T-cells in a community cancer center–based setting.
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Dr Bob Twillman Discusses Opioid Risk Assessment in Cancer Pain and New Opioid Policies
April 13th 2018Typically, cancer pain management is carved out of policies that try to restrict opioid prescribing in an effort to combat the opioid epidemic, but with more and more patients surviving their cancer, there is some uncertainty regarding who is affected by these policies, explained Bob Twillman, PhD, executive director for the Academy of Integrative Pain Management.
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Avalere Consultants Untangle the MIPS Conundrum for Oncologists
April 13th 2018Richard Kane and Caroline Pearson, both from Avalere Health, provided oncologists gathered at the 2018 Community Oncology Conference an overview of reimbursement programs offered by CMS and advice on navigating them.
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Commissioner Gottlieb Updates Community Oncologists on the FDA's Mission to Improve Access
April 12th 2018At the 2018 Community Oncology Conference hosted by the Community Oncology Alliance, April 12-13 in National Harbor, Maryland, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, provided the audience with an overview of current and future plans of the regulatory agency, particularly its strides within the molecular diagnostic testing space.
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Terrill Jordan on Implementing OCM: Take It Step by Step
February 6th 2018Before undertaking something like implementing the Oncology Care Model, practices should understand the scope of the project and the overall importance it can have for patient care, said Terrill Jordan, CEO of Regional Cancer Care Associates.
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Dr Peter Aran Discusses Year 1 Feedback on OCM
February 5th 2018When you have constant evolving contract, there are changes, and so some of the feedback I’m getting is that sometimes it’s hard to keep up with the changes, said Peter Aran, MD, medical director of Population Health Management at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma.
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Dr Mark Fendrick: How Expensive Therapies Fit Into VBID for Oncology
January 29th 2018When a drug becomes first-line, I would like to think that as a clinician I would have access to that, but most importantly that my patients would not have to have a bake sale or take out a second mortgage on their homes to get therapies that are designed specifically for them, said A. Mark Fendrick, MD, director of the Center for Value-Based Insurance Design at the University of Michigan.
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Dr Peter Aran on What Oncologists Implementing OCM Can Learn From Existing Models
January 24th 2018Over the next years, these spheres (ACOs, primary care, and oncology) that are going on in CMMI need to be coalesced together so that when we have learning collaboratives, not only do we have learning collaboratives within each of these spheres, but we learn from each other in these similar projects, said Peter Aran, MD, medical director of Population Health Management at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma.
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Terrill Jordan Discusses the Process of Customizing an EMR to Adapt to OCM
January 19th 2018In order to adapt to the Oncology Care Model (OCM), Regional Cancer Care Associates had to undergo the process of adjusting and customizing its electronic medical records, explained CEO Terrill Jordan.
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Dr Mark Fendrick: Setting Cost-Sharing Based on Value, Not Price, in Cancer Care
January 18th 2018We should try to remove barriers that are not only in place, but getting higher for clinicians and patients to get evidence-based care, said A. Mark Fendrick, MD, director of the Center for Value-Based Insurance Design at the University of Michigan.
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David Merrill and John Robinson Discuss Barriers to APMs, Factors of Interest
January 15th 2018The ability to have a plan that’s going to work and be large enough that it makes sense for those involved is a barrier for employers who want to pursue alternative payment models, said David Merrill, HR benefits manager, Volusia County, Florida, and John Robinson, CEBS, REBC, RHU, president and CEO, RobinsonBush.
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Dr Peter Aran on Involving Providers in Development Process of New Reimbursement Models
January 11th 2018Involving providers in the development process of new reimbursement models increases the chance that the initiative will be successful and works against caregiver burnout, said Peter Aran, MD, medical director of Population Health Management at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma.
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