Interviews

Jana K. Dickter, MD, associate clinical professor, Division of Infectious Diseases, City of Hope, addresses what health systems need to do to improve HIV therapy accessibility and affordability.

Data on empagliflozin in chronic kidney disease (CKD) showed the drug had similar efficacy across subgroups, but more data is needed to really understand the benefit of the drug in CKD, said Jennifer Green, MD, professor of medicine at Duke University School of Medicine, member of Duke Clinical Research Institute, and EMPA-KIDNEY collaborator.

Now that long-acting injectables are approved, the next big concern is patient access, said Kevin N. Astle, PharmD, BCPS, BCACP, AAHIVP, CDES, assistant professor at the University of South Florida Taneja College of Pharmacy.

As dean for medical education at the University of Chicago, Vineet Arora, MD, MAPP, takes a longitudinal view of the training pathway with an eye toward equity in opportunity and system-level improvement of processes.

Liz Lightstone, MBBS, PhD, FRCP, professor of renal medicine for the Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, discussed how the potential teratogenic effects of novel therapies being investigated for lupus nephritis can impede clinical trial recruitment for women of childbearing age.

Nancy Reau, MD, section chief of hepatology at Rush University Medical Center, elaborates on how to improve provider knowledge on liver disease guidelines.

Updating the Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Index each year with the latest data and literature and implementing feedback is important for at least the first few years, said Tom Robinson, vice president of global access at JDRF.

Jason Ezra Hawkes, MD, MS, FAAD, board-certified dermatologist and associate professor of dermatology at the University of California Davis in Sacramento, spoke on how clinical studies in atopic dermatitis (AD) are increasingly investigating topics that remain unknown for disease management, including primary vs secondary failures and AD pathophysiology across different ethnic groups.

Joseph Alvarnas, MD, vice president of government affairs at City of Hope and chief clinical adviser of AccessHope in Duarte, California, spoke on the influence that the California Cancer Care Equity Act is having on legislative efforts in other states, as well as future steps to promote accessible, affordable, and effective cancer care for patients nationwide.

In an interview at this year’s American Heart Association Scientific Sessions meeting in Chicago, Tochi M. Okwuosa, DO, cardiologist and director of cardio-oncology at Rush University Medical Center, discussed the importance of addressing cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention in patients with cancer who are undergoing treatment.

As patients come into clinic and receive appropriate follow-up, we can hopefully find ways to mitigate the increase in alcoholic hepatitis, said Nancy Reau, MD, section chief of hepatology at Rush University Medical Center.

Get type 1 diabetes (T1D) communities involved in solving the problem and implementing T1D interventions in your country, said Tom Robinson, vice president of global access at JDRF.

There is a major role for telehealth in oncology care, not only for its convenience but also for giving clinicians the ability to scale nononcologic visits, explained Emeline Aviki, MD, MBA, FACOG, assistant attending gynecologic cancer surgeon at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York City and lead of the MSKCC Affordability Working Group.

Jason Ezra Hawkes, MD, MS, FAAD, board-certified dermatologist and associate professor of dermatology at the University of California Davis in Sacramento, discussed why it is important for dermatologists to educate patients on atopic dermatitis (AD) and keep an open mind on variations in disease presentation by skin color.

Liz Lightstone, MBBS, PhD, FRCP, professor of renal medicine for the Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, spoke on issues regarding the current standard of care for lupus nephritis, including steroid overuse, pregnancy, and dose-related toxicity.

Vineet Arora, MD, MAPP, dean for medical education at UChicago Medicine, discusses the qualities that led her to nominate Ishani Ganguli, MD, MPH, to receive the Seema S. Sonnad Emerging Leader in Managed Care Research Award. The American Journal of Managed Care® presented the 2022 award to Dr Ganguli at the 2022 Patient-Centered Oncology Care® meeting.

A combination of possible factors could be contributing to a recent uptick in hospitalizations for alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver, said Nancy Reau, MD, section chief of hepatology at Rush University Medical Center.

While each country has a different priority when it comes to type 1 diabetes (T1D) diagnosis and treatment, there is a fairly consistent outcomes checklist across nations, said Tom Robinson, vice president of global access at JDRF.

Jana K. Dickter, MD, associate clinical professor, Division of Infectious Diseases, City of Hope, discusses a patient's experience being the oldest person to successfully undergo a stem cell transplant while living with HIV and leukemia.

Stephen M. Schleicher, MD, MBA, chief medical officer at Tennessee Oncology, addresses the “huge problem” of financial toxicity among patients with cancer, which can be attributed in part to both the high price of targeted treatments and even from ordering only necessary testing.

The disease groups that make up the OneOncology clinical pathways program cover 90% of patients with cancer and develop best practices for treating cancer in the majority of patients, said Edward “Ted” Arrowsmith, MD, MPH, managing partner and director of research, East Tennessee Division, Tennessee Oncology.

With multiple biosimilars approved for a reference product and different payers preferring particular products, communication between the clinical pharmacy team and the managed care team is crucial, said Timothy Murphy, MD, FACP, medical oncologist/hematologist with Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers.

Currently, there is no treatment approved for resectable cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC), nor do we have biomarkers to predict treatment response, noted Neil D. Gross, MD, FACS, head and neck surgeon and director of clinical research in the Department of Head and Neck Surgery at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Joseph Alvarnas, MD, vice president of government affairs at City of Hope and chief clinical adviser of AccessHope in Duarte, California, spoke on how the California Cancer Care Equity Act will allow oncologists to escalate the care of patients with advanced cancers toward established centers that can better meet their needs, as well as implications from the decision to exclude genomic testing coverage in the bill.

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.

Melissa O'Connor, PhD, MBA, RN, FGSA, FAAN, endowed professor in community and home health nursing, M. Louise Fitzpatrick School of Nursing, Villanova University, and director, Gerontology Interest Group, spoke on the early use of technology in assessing older adults in the home setting and what research is required to improve best practices for their use.

Disease symptomatology may be the same, but the presentation of heart failure (HF) and heart attacks differ between women and men, explained Amresh Raina, MD, of the Allegheny Health Network in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Liz Lightstone, MBBS, PhD, FRCP, professor of renal medicine for the faculty of medicine, Imperial College London, discussed recently approved therapeutic options for patients with lupus nephritis and what unmet needs persist in the management of the disease.