Laura Joszt, MA

The OneOncology Annual Conference is being held November 11-13 in Nashville, Tennessee, and brings together practice leaders, physicians, and advanced practice providers to discuss the business of oncology and scientific advancements, explained Davey Daniel, MD, chief medical officer of OneOncology.

Representatives across 12 disease groups make up a council that sets clinical recommendations for oncology care and those decisions are being pushed out in the electronic medical record for decision support at the point of care, said Jeffrey Patton, MD, CEO, OneOncology, and executive chairman of the board, Tennessee Oncology. Patton will lead off OneOncology's Physician Leadership Conference, which runs November 11-13 in Nashville.

Ahead of the big wave of adalimumab biosimilars launching in the US market in 2023, rheumatologists report growing confidence in using biosimilars but remain concerned about their efficacy and economic benefit.

The 2023 Physician Fee Schedule final rule was released and swiftly drew condemnations from physician leaders because of a 4.5% cut to reimbursement.

Recent FDA approvals and therapies under FDA review are adding new treatments to the armamentarium, said Paul Hahn, MD, vitreoretinal surgeon at NJRetina.

Having a plan in place to educate providers and the pharmacy team has contributed to the success that Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers (RMCC) has had with rapidly implementing biosimilars, said Timothy Murphy, MD, medical oncologist/hematologist with RMCC.

The latest updates in lung cancer screening guidelines will help address disparities in certain populations, but multiple barriers including access to programs and payer coverage remain issues.

Youths and young adults are the target demographic of sleek, colorful e-cigarette devices with flavorful nicotine.

In the Roger C. Bone Memorial Lecture in Critical Care at CHEST 2022, E. Wesley Ely, MD, MPH, of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, highlights the need for humanism in the intensive care unit and how the COVID-19 pandemic destroyed what had been built up.

Patients with uveitis and their physicians may be very familiar with intravitreal injections, but triamcinolone acetonide injectable suspension (Xipere) has a novel delivery method, said Steven Yeh, MD, professor and the Stanley Truhlsen Jr. Chair in Ophthalmology at the Truhlsen Eye Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center.

As understanding of COVID-19 evolves and more evidence on treatments emerges, making sense of it can be a challenge for physicians.

One poster found patients with uncontrolled asthma had improved outcomes after escalating to triple therapy, while the other found a substantial portion of patients adherent to a dual therapy reported not having controlled asthma.

The first 5 minutes of a patient’s visit with a doctor can help improve communication and build more trusting relationships, explained panelists during a session on lung health disparities in America at CHEST 2022.

Biosimilars have had such an impact on driving down costs, that in some instances the reference product might be the lowest cost option, explained Paul Forsberg, PharmD, director of pharmacy, Minnesota Oncology.

While a majority of national lives are covered by vertically integrated insurers, the proportion varies widely at the state level from as low as 6% to as high as 97% of covered lives, according to a new American Medical Association (AMA) report about competition in the pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) sector and insurance.

Even though there is a 1-year gap between the Oncology Care Model and the Enhancing Oncology Model, there remain value-based oncology payment programs with private payers, said Glenn Balasky, executive director of Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers.

There are no FDA-approved therapies for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), but there are many being developed. Resmetirom and obeticholic acid are both being reviewed by the FDA with decisions expected in 2023.

Different factors have contributed to the lack of racial diversity in ophthalmology residency programs, and these programs build the future of the workforce, said Parisa Emami-Naeni, MD, MPH, assistant professor of ophthalmology at University of California, Davis, and vitreoretinal surgeon and uveitis specialist at UC Davis Eye Center.

With more and more biosimilars reaching market, there are considerations around whether to keep patients on their current biosimilar or switch them to another biosimilar as the market dictates, said Paul Forsberg, PharmD, director of pharmacy, Minnesota Oncology.

Lung cancer screening rates remain low nationwide, and there is a need to better educate patients and clinicians about the importance of screening, said Ticiana Leal, MD, associate professor, director of the Thoracic Medical Oncology Program, Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine.

With multiple pathways and stakeholders involved, there needs to be an arbiter who decides what is the highest quality and highest value care in oncology, said Lucy Langer, MD, MSHS, national medical director, oncology and genomics, UnitedHealthcare.

It is an exciting time in the field of retina for emerging technologies, said Paul Hahn, MD, vitreoretinal surgeon at NJRetina.

Results from the pivotal PHOTON and PULSAR trials highlighted the success of 8-mg aflibercept every 12 or 16 weeks in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME) and neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD).

The ophthalmology practice of the future will need to manage patients more efficiently and that means incorporating more technology, said Ravi Goel, MD, spokesperson for the AAO and ophthalmologist at Regional Eye Associates in New Jersey.

Targeted therapies have improved outcomes for patients with lung cancer, but the goal needs to be tailoring the right therapy to the right patient, said Ticiana Leal, MD, associate professor, director of the Thoracic Medical Oncology Program, Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine.

The topline results showed the phase 3 trial met both the primary endpoint and all secondary endpoints.

There has been a sea change in how retina specialists treat retinal diseases, with a progressive shift toward more utilization of anti–vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), said Paul Hahn, MD, vitreoretinal surgeon at NJRetina.

Ophthalmology is image heavy, which has made the specialty amenable to telemedicine and the implementation of artificial intelligence, said Grayson Armstrong, MD, medical director, ophthalmic emergency services at Massachusetts Eye and Ear, and instructor in ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) annual meeting will present cutting-edge topics on retinal disease, as well as feature a presentation from historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, said Ravi Goel, MD, spokesperson for AAO and ophthalmologist at Regional Eye Associates in New Jersey.

When converting a patient to a biosimilar, having clear and consistent messaging will reduce confusion and prevent patients from having a lack of trust in the process, said Paul Forsberg, PharmD, director of pharmacy, Minnesota Oncology.