While there may be negative connotations attached to the term “palliative care,” this type of care could be called “supportive team care” to better express its potential to educate and care for patients with chronic illnesses such as multiple sclerosis (MS), said June Halper, MSN, APN-C, MSCN, FAAN, chief executive officer, Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers.

With the increasing prevalence of more expensive, potentially curative therapies, there comes the question of can we still afford expensive interventions that are that valuable, explained Jeroen Jansen, PhD, lead scientific advisor, Open-Source Value Project, Innovation and Value Initiative.

John Fox, MD, MHA, vice president of Clinical Transformation at Spectrum Health, reacts to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network's call to expand comprehensive genomic testing across several cancers.

Iuliana Shapira, MD, chief medical officer, Regional Cancer Care Associates (RCCA), discusses how data analytics have improved RCCA’s revenue cycle.

Shared decision making has been taught to clinicians for years, but it is especially crucial when treating multiple sclerosis (MS) due to the importance of treatment adherence, according to June Halper, MSN, APN-C, MSCN, FAAN, chief executive officer, Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers.

R. Brett McQueen, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Colorado, explains how multiple-criteria decision analysis be used to aid in coverage and reimbursement decisions for high-cost, innovative therapies.

Division among employers prolongs their inability to alter the healthcare system, but by acting together, value-based care will begin to spark change, said Lauren Vela, MBA, senior director, Member Value, Pacific Business Group on Health.

Innovation is being used to improve quality metrics in oncology care at the patient forefront and in data, explained Lani M. Alison, BSN, MS, HCQ, PCMH, CCE, vice president of Clinical Affairs, Regional Cancer Care Associates.

Accountable care organizations who have been involved in value-based payment for a while are committed to the new model, explained Rob Mechanic, MBA, senior fellow at the Heller School of Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University and executive director of the Institute for Accountable Care.

As new treatments and technologies evolve, it is very important that radiation oncologists have a new alternative payment model for reimbursement, said Shalom Kalnicki, MD, FASTRO, FACRO, professor and chairman, radiation oncology, Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care and Albert Einstein College of Medicine.