Dr Harold L. Paz Discusses Aetna's Plan to Address Social Determinants of Health
January 28th 2017Aetna has developed a number of initiatives and partnerships to help address the social determinants of health for needy patients outside of the clinical setting, according to Harold L. Paz, MD, MS, executive vice president and chief medical officer at Aetna.
Watch
Dr Carrie Stricker on Why Clinician Voices Are Needed in Health IT Development
January 27th 2017The most transformative software companies are those that have seized the opportunity to incorporate clinician and patient voices into the design of their health IT tools, according to Carrie Stricker, PhD, RN, AOCN, chief clinical officer and co-founder of Carevive.
Watch
Dr Eleanor Perfetto Discusses the Role of Patient Engagement in Measuring Quality
January 26th 2017Patients are becoming more engaged in their own healthcare, meaning they have more input in the quality measurement process and can even help develop quality measures for the future, said Eleanor Perfetto, PhD, senior vice president of strategic initiatives for the National Health Council.
Watch
Pam Mangat Discusses ASCO's Plans to Address Challenges of TAPUR Trial
January 25th 2017Researchers implementing the TAPUR trial have encountered some difficulties, particularly in filling the study cohorts, said Pam Mangat, MS, associate director TAPUR study at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). However, the ASCO team is dedicated to forging ahead and addressing those challenges.
Watch
Dr Jeffrey Brenner Explains Why Complex Patients Need Realigned Care Teams
January 24th 2017The traditional care team model places doctors in charge of the team, but this structure may not be the most effective for complex patients with social challenges and other issues, said Jeffrey Brenner, MD, executive director of the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers.
Watch
Dr Sean Khozin on FDA Initiative to Analyze Data From Real-World Pipelines
January 23rd 2017The Information Exchange and Data Transformation initiative at the FDA uses oncology data from not only clinical trials but also electronic health records and biosensors. This patient-centered approach brings research to the real world, as many oncology patients are excluded from clinical trials, said Sean Khozin, MD, MPH, senior medical officer at the FDA.
Watch
Dr Mark Fendrick Discusses Underinsurance Worries and Possible Solutions
January 22nd 2017Underinsurance, which occurs when people have insurance but aren't covered for services they need, is a serious problem in the US, according to A. Mark Fendrick, MD, director of the Center for Value-Based Insurance Design at the University of Michigan. He proposed some strategies to alleviate this phenomenon, like smarter deductibles and revised Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rules.
Watch
Jonathan Hirsch Discusses Challenges in Health IT Implementation
January 21st 2017The state of current software systems, primarily electronic medical records, is a significant barrier to implementing successful health IT tools, said Jonathan Hirsch, founder and president of Syapse. He also explained some of the solutions developed by Syapse to address these challenges, like improving the software’s integration capabilities and making it more usable for providers.
Watch
Dr Katherine Schneider Says Adjusting to New Paradigm of Value Will Take Time
January 20th 2017As the shift from volume-based care to value-based care continues, providers will require a whole new mindset and skillset to be successful, according to Katherine Schneider, MD, president of the Delaware Valley ACO.
Watch
Dr Stuart Goldberg Explains Differences Between COTA and Traditional Data Analysis Tools
January 18th 2017Data from electronic health records aren’t always helpful for oncologists, which is why the founders of Cancer Outcomes Tracking and Analysis (COTA) developed a platform that stratifies patients by relevant characteristics, said Stuart Goldberg, MD, chief medical officer, COTA, John Theurer Cancer Center.
Watch
Heather Zacker on Obstacles Preventing Greater Physician Collaboration
January 17th 2017Physicians may have a hard time relinquishing their own piece of the healthcare puzzle, whether due to financial incentives or inadequate care coordination, said Heather Zacker, MS, senior director of Care Alliances of Joslin Innovation at Joslin Diabetes Center.
Watch
Dr Robert Carlson on Balancing Efficiency and Patient-Centered Care
January 16th 2017Oncologists need to ask patients the right questions and truly listen to the answers, but they must then balance the individuals’ goals with the practice’s efforts to provide consistently efficient cancer care to all patients, according to Robert W. Carlson, MD, CEO of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.
Watch
Dr Andrei Gonzales on the Possibilities of Bundled Payments
January 15th 2017Bundled payment models could provide surgeons with a full spectrum of data that can help them decide which hospital is the right choice for their patients, said Andrei Gonzales, MD, McKesson's director of value-based reimbursement initiatives. He also said that this data can drive improvement for hospitals that may be falling behind.
Watch
David Fabrizio Suggests Advantages of Genomic Profiling for Payers
January 14th 2017Payers have been slow to adopt new technologies, but they are starting to be more proactive in seeking out genomic profiling companies, according to David Fabrizio, of Foundation Medicine, Inc. These molecular diagnostic tools make the healthcare process more efficient by performing a comprehensive test at the point of diagnosis.
Watch
Dr Yehuda Handelsman: Discussing Insulin Perceptions With Patients
January 13th 2017Patients have a number of concerns about insulin, including pain from injections and interference with their activities, said Yehuda Handelsman, MD, FACP, FACE, FNLA, medical director and principal investigator at the Metabolic Institute of America. However, clinicians must play an important role in explaining to patients how recent advances have made insulin delivery simpler and more convenient.
Watch
Daniel Wolfson Discusses Hopes for Choosing Wisely Initiative
January 12th 2017A major goal of the Choosing Wisely campaign is to educate and empower both the clinician and patient communities, eventually reducing the overuse of resources, according to Daniel Wolfson, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the ABIM Foundation.
Watch
Dr Joseph Alvarnas on Importance of Patient Voice in Value-Based Cancer Care
January 11th 2017The transformation to value-based oncology care must be centered upon the priorities and needs of patients and their families, said Joseph Alvarnas, MD, of the City of Hope and editor-in-chief of Evidence-Based Oncology. This vision is starting to be incorporated in areas like the Oncology Care Model, which looks at patient-reported outcomes and experiences.
Watch
Susan Dentzer Discusses Obstacles to Adoption of Value-Based Care
January 10th 2017The biggest challenge in moving to value-based care is the mindset of providers accustomed to volume-based care, as they must work with payers to change the systems, said Susan Dentzer, president and CEO of The Network for Excellence in Health Innovation.
Watch
Dr Kate Goodrich Discusses CMS Expectations for MACRA and APM Participation
January 9th 2017CMS understands that not all physicians will report quality measures under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act or join advanced alternative payment models, especially immediately, said Kate Goodrich, MD, director of the Quality Measurement and Value-Based Incentives Group in CMS. However, there are efforts in place to make it as easy as possible for these providers, which will hopefully increase participation over time.
Watch
Stuart Genschaw Discusses His Practice's Transition Towards Implementing the OCM
January 8th 2017As Cancer & Hematology Centers of Western Michigan starts to participate in the Oncology Care Model (OCM), it has dedicated its resources to understanding the model and analyzing data, said Stuart Genschaw, executive director of the Cancer & Hematology Centers of Western Michigan. Throughout this process, however, the practice’s main focus is always on “providing great care” to its patients.
Watch
Christine Bernsten on Health Share of Oregon's Successes and Challenges
January 7th 2017Cooperation and trust are key in getting partners to work well together as part of a coordinated care organization (CCO), said Christine Bernsten, senior manager of delivery systems transformation for Health Share of Oregon.
Watch
Dr Roy Beveridge: Value-Based Care Means Better Reimbursement for Physicians
January 6th 2017Physicians have shown great interest in understanding how to transition into value-based processes, especially with the new rules under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), said Roy Beveridge, MD, chief medical officer of Humana. While these transitions take time and effort, they eventually lead to physicians being reimbursed more for longer visit times and improved outcomes.
Watch
Dr David L. Porter: Combining CAR-T Cells With Other Immunotherapies the Next Logical Step
January 5th 2017David L. Porter, MD, of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, explains why treating tumors with a combination of CAR-T cells and other immune-stimulating agents is a logical next step for investigators.
Watch
Debra Madden on Unrealistic Expectations For Immuno-Oncology Treatments
January 4th 2017Many patients have learned about the advances in immunotherapy treatments for cancer, but the media may not be portraying all the complexities and potential harms of these agents, according to Debra L. Madden, cancer research advocate and patient representative. Madden mentioned that biomarker research could help determine which patients are most likely to benefit from immuno-oncology.
Watch
Dr Michael Chernew's Expectations for the Medicare Advantage VBID Model
January 3rd 2017Although there are still some unknowns surrounding the new Medicare Advantage Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) Model, beneficiaries are likely to appreciate the reduction in copays for high-value care, said Michael E. Chernew, PhD, the Leonard D. Schaeffer Professor of Health Care Policy and director of the Healthcare Markets and Regulation Lab in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School.
Watch
Dr Carrie Stricker Discusses the Importance of the Patient Voice in Oncology Treatment Decisions
January 2nd 2017Oncologists must recognize the importance of the patient voice when making treatment decisions so that the treatment plan can be adapted to each patient’s goals and desires, said Carrie Stricker, PhD, RN, AOCN, chief clinical officer and co-founder of Carevive.
Watch
Pam Mangat Discusses ASCO's Progress on TAPUR Study
January 1st 2017The TAPUR clinical trial is rapidly expanding to new sites, but the researchers have not yet collected enough data to analyze and publish the results, according to Pam Mangat, MS, associate director TAPUR study at the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Watch
Dr Ashish K. Jha Discusses Patients' Role in Bundled Payments
December 30th 2016Gathering patient-reported outcomes and experiences is essential to evaluating the success of bundled payment models, said Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH, the K.T. Li Professor of Health Policy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the director of the Harvard Global Health Institute.
Watch