COA: Community Oncology Alliance

Lalan Wilfong, MD, executive vice president, Value Based Care & Quality Programs, Texas Oncology, and co-chair, Payment Reform, Community Oncology Alliance, discusses implications of quality metrics in cancer care and what perspectives on the topic he is looking forward to hearing at the 2021 Community Oncology Conference.

Dinesh Kapur, MD, chair, OneCouncil, and managing partner, Eastern Connecticut Hematology and Oncology (ECHO), speaks on efforts made by by community oncology practices to improve minority representation in oncology clinical trials and implications of the COVID-19 pandemic ahead of the 2021 Community Oncology Conference.

Kathy Oubre, MS, chief operating officer, Pontchartrain Cancer Center, explores US adoption of biosimilars ahead of her panel discussion at the 2021 Community Oncology Conference, as well as what sessions she’s looking forward to attending.

Bo Gamble, Director of Strategic Practice Initiatives, Community Oncology Alliance, highlights his questions for the keynote speakers of the 2021 Community Oncology Conference, and takeaways he hopes audience members gain from the sessions.

Ted Okon, MBA, executive director, Community Oncology Alliance (COA), speaks on the most significant challenges members encountered in the past year managing the COVID-19 pandemic ahead of the 2021 Community Oncology Conference.

Jeff Patton, MD, CEO, OneOncology, chairman of the board, Tennessee Oncology, discusses what audience members should expect from the Community Oncology Conference 2021 and sessions he is looking forward to.

Frederick Schnell, MD, FACP, medical director of COA, discusses how employers' concerns with cancer care coverage can be addressed without compromising quality.

Value-based insurance design has made gains in oncology, but there's more work to do.

Panelists at the Community Oncology Alliance Payer Exchange Summit take issue with strategies they say harm patients and don't save money in the long run.

Bhuvana Sagar, MD, national medical executive, Cigna Health Care, offers insights on implementing payment reform models in oncology after a session at the 2020 Community Oncology Alliance Payer Exchange Summit.

Lalan Wilfong, MD, executive vice president for quality programs and value-based care at Texas Oncology and Community Oncology Alliance payment reform co-chair, discusses the role of employers in cancer care benefits and issues stemming from the pandemic.

A panel of key opinion leaders discuss how employers and self-funded companies should assess provider quality and value in cancer care at the 2020 Community Oncology Alliance Virtual Payer Exchange Summit.

Evolution and collaboration are the fundamentals of bringing oncology payment reform plans to fruition, say 3 professionals on the front lines.

During a session on day 1 of the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) Virtual Payer Exchange Summit on Oncology Payment Reform, a panel of experts discussed the ways COVID-19 continues to impact cancer care and payment reform.

Barbara McAneny, MD, founding partner of New Mexico Oncology Hematology Consultants, discusses the challenges in care delivery with step therapy in Medicare Advantage and much-debated home infusion in oncology.

Lucio Gordan, MD, president and managing physician at Florida Cancer Specialists and Research Institute, discusses the impact that COVID-19 continues to have on health care delivery and payment reform initiatives as the COA Payer Exchange Summit tackles this and other issues in payment reform.

The Community Oncology Alliance Payer Exchange Summit always offers frank discussion, and this year's virtual format promises more of the same.

Bo Gamble, director of Strategic Practice Initiatives for the Community Oncology Alliance (COA), previewed the COA Payer Exchange Summit on Oncology Payment Reform ahead of the 2-day virtual meeting on October 27-28, 2020.

During the upcoming Community Oncology Alliance (COA) Payer Exchange Summit, a panel discussion on applying value-based insurance design (VBID) in oncology will explore ways in which the coronavirus disease 2019 crisis can be an opportunity for growth.

The ruling reversed a lower court ruling regarding the drug discount program for hospitals that serve patients covered by Medicaid.

Despite the immediate distraction from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), panelists at the 2020 Virtual Community Oncology Conference said community oncologists must keep pressure on pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) as the 2020 campaign heats up—lest they lose the momentum to rein PBM practices within the umbrella of drug pricing reform.

The bright spot of telemedicine's success during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic cannot overshadow the stresses on patients and practices, which will both have ongoing challenges when the pandemic ends, said panelists during a legislative update on day 2 of the 2020 Virtual Community Oncology Conference, convened by the Community Oncology Alliance.

There's a way to boost participation in clinical trials and modernize the cumbersome process of patient accrual, noted current ASCO President Howard A. “Skip” Burris, MD, FACP, FASCO, on day 2 of Virtual COA 2020. It means shifting clinical trials out of hospitals and tertiary care centers and bringing them to the patients.

Day 1 of Virtual COA 2020, this year’s Community Oncology Conference, kicked off with the panel discussion, “Top Oncology Issues Now & Looking Ahead,” led by Bo Gamble, director of Strategic Practice Initiatives at the Community Oncology Alliance. Topics covered ran the gamut: from Zoom being everyone’s new middle name to telehealth to caring for patients’ medical and social needs and beyond.

Oncology practices could use more time to become accustomed to 2-sided risk even without a global pandemic, but the current crisis makes the need more urgent, say payment reform leaders at the Community Oncology Alliance virtual conference.

The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®) recently spoke with Dinesh Kapur, MD, of Eastern Connecticut Hematology and Oncology, also known as ECHO, an advanced community oncology conference. Kapur spoke about how the value of community oncology, clinicial trials, and how staff are spending remote work days developing artificial intelligence (AI) tools for predictive patient analytics to improve care.

In a preview interview for this year’s 2020 Community Oncology Conference, The American Journal of Managed Care® speaks with Anshu Jain, MD—radiation oncologist at Ashland Bellefonte Cancer Center in Ashland, Kentucky; assistant clinical professor at the Yale School of Medicine; and Community Oncology Alliance board member—on how important it is to always strive for excellence in medicine.

At the 2020 Community Oncology Conference, hosted by the Community Oncology Alliance, Howard "Skip" Burris III, MD, FACP, FASCO, president, chief medical officer, and executive director of drug development for Sarah Cannon Research Institute, will discuss "The Now and Future of Clinical Trials in the Community Oncology Setting." The American Journal of Managed Care® recently spoke with Burris, who is wrapping up his term as president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, about how the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic is affecting clinical trials as well as other aspects of the future of patient care in community oncology settings.

The American Journal of Managed Care® discussed integrating applied informatics into the oncology care setting with Debra Patt, MD, MPH, MBA, executive vice president of policy and strategy at Texas Oncology.

In this preview interview for this year’s virtual 2020 Community Oncology Conference, The American Journal of Managed Care® speaks with Kathy Oubre, MS, chief operating officer of Pontchartrain Cancer Center in Louisiana, on why it is her privilege to work with patients who have cancer, as well as her thoughts on telehealth after the pandemic and why being in a hurricane-prone area necessitates healthcare that is flexible.