Clinical Pathways

As specialty drug costs, formulary wars, and reimbursement models grab headlines everyday, we need to take a step back and visualize how all of this might impact innovation and whether the patient stands to lose in the process.

Stick to pathways or use them as guidance? A physician explores.

Panel Discussion led by Seema Sonnad,PhD, that saw participation from ASCO's president Peter Paul Yu, MD; Jennifer Malin, MD, PhD, from WellPoint; Chadi Nabhan, MD, FACP, from the University of Chicago; and I.W. Tischler, MD, from Cigna.

The authors found no consistent pattern in the concordance between CER evidence and subsequent utilization patterns.

The continued advances in cancer treatment are improving patient survival, but the healthcare industry is bursting at its seams.

The health services research poster session held in the afternoon on the penultimate day of the 50th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) presented different perspectives on issues that determine patient care decisions. This is an important discussion, especially in light of the recent report by The Wall Street Journal on WellPoint's effort to promote oncologist adherence to standardized treatment guidelines.

Oncology clinical pathways have helped health plans deliver quality care while keeping an eye on costs. The lack of standardization in pathways can be cumbersome on a busy oncology practice. If Medicare adopts a pathways model, it could offer a framework for broader use.

Bruce Feinberg, DO, vice president and chief medical officer of Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions, Clinical Pathways, begins this next segment from a different perspective.

Bruce Feinberg, DO, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions, says that the healthcare system today is fragmented, if not broken.