Latest Conference Articles

In order to make Medicare drug price negotiation a reality, the government has to have additional leverage to negotiate that it doesn't have, explained Ed F. Haislmaier, the Preston A. Wells Jr senior research fellow at the Institute for Family Community, and Opportunity at The Heritage Foundation.

Providing financial navigators in cancer centers and hospitals can have demonstrable benefits for both patients and hospitals, explained Todd Yezefski, MD, senior fellow in the Clinical Research Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Washington.

A panel of providers discussed key advocacy issues that affect patients and practices and could improve access to care and costs during the 2018 Community Oncology Conference, hosted by the Community Oncology Alliance, April 12-13 in National Harbor, Maryland.

Our division at Stanford is very interested in investigating innovative therapies and has a particular focus on immunotherapies, explained Oliver Dorigo, MD, PhD, associate professor, obstetrics and gynecology, Stanford University Medical Center.

Ray Page, DO, PhD, president and director of research at The Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders and chair-elect of the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s (ASCO) Clinical Practice Committee, provides a look at legislation to improve patient access to treatments and address drug pricing in cancer care.

There is currently a lack of transparency with pharmacy benefit managers around drug prices and where the rebates for drugs are going, but Congress is pushing for greater transparency that will benefit patients, said Ted Okon, executive director of the Community Oncology Alliance.

How are community practices coping with administering chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T treatments? At the 2018 Community Oncology Conference hosted by the Community Oncology Alliance, Houston Holmes, MD, MBA, FACP, Texas Oncology, shared his experience with administering CAR T-cells in a community cancer center–based setting.

Stacey McCullough, PharmD, senior vice president of pharmacy at Tennessee Oncology, discusses the importance of the pharmacist there are more advances being made and therapeutic options becoming available in oncology.

The Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) is a big program designed to be applied to all clinicians, which makes it complex to figure out how to do right, explained Richard Kane, senior director at Avalere.

Richard Kane and Caroline Pearson, both from Avalere Health, provided oncologists gathered at the 2018 Community Oncology Conference an overview of reimbursement programs offered by CMS and advice on navigating them.

At the 2018 Community Oncology Conference hosted by the Community Oncology Alliance, April 12-13 in National Harbor, Maryland, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, provided the audience with an overview of current and future plans of the regulatory agency, particularly its strides within the molecular diagnostic testing space.

The more data providers have on a patient, the better understanding they have about the type of treatment plan that works best with the patient’s goals, explained Torrie K. Fields, MPH, senior program manager of Palliative Care Program Design & Implementation for Blue Shield of California.

Victoria Bae-Jump, MD, PhD, associate professor, gynecologic oncology, University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the current standard of treatment for patients with advanced endometrial cancer as well as the role novel therapies, such as targeted therapies and immunotherapy, play in the treatment of the disease.

In the last few years, there’s been a real surge in interest in professional satisfaction in healthcare, according to Mark Friedberg, MD, MPP, senior natural scientist and director of the Boston office at RAND Corporation.

Getting to value in healthcare has proven to be difficult, but succesful programs have certain characteristics, said David Blumenthal, MD, MPP, president of The Commonwealth Fund.

Barbara Balik, EdD, MS, RN, co-founder of Aefina Partners and senior faculty at the Institute of Healthcare Improvement, recognizes the positives and negatives of electronic health records.

While clinicians can have a bad reaction to the idea of “cookbook medicine,” it can really result in patients getting the best treatment, said Derek Raghavan, MD, PhD, FACP, FRACP, president, Carolinas HealthCare System's Levine Cancer Institute.

M. Kristina Wharton, MPH, of the Department of Global Health Management and Policy at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, talks about the services federally qualified centers provide, specifically how they help patients access medications.

Shantanu Agrawal, MD, MPhil, CEO and president of National Quality Forum, recognizes the importance of diminishing health disparities.

While there has been progress with using chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells to treat multiple myeloma, these treatments aren’t ready for prime time, said Nina Shah, MD, associate professor, University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine.

Tom Gallo, president of the Association of Community Cancer Centers, discusses how burnout is on the rise, but being better addressed now, as well as how technology can both contribute to and alleviate burnout.

Thomas Graf, MD, chief medical officer and vice president, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, discusses the impact of new therapies on private insurance coverage for cancer patients.

Committees for Via Oncology meet frequently to update pathway platforms and support the growing needs of physicians, according to Kathleen Lokay.

Dan Klein, president and CEO of the Patient Access Network (PAN) Foundation, lists possible policy changes that would strengthen the safety net.

It’s important to emphasize that this is not an opioid crisis, it’s a prescription opioid crisis, said Sean C. Dowdy, MD, chair, division of gynecologic surgery, department of obstetrics and gynecology, Mayo Clinic.

Government programs, especially Medicare, are stuck in the past and are not designed to accommodate advancements in modern technology, said Ed F. Haislmaier, the Preston A. Wells Jr senior research fellow at the Institute for Family Community, and Opportunity at The Heritage Foundation.

Physicians using molecular therapies need to be educated on where the therapies are best used during treatment, and patients need to understand that the radiation is safe for those around them, said Joe O'Sullivan, MD, FRCR, clinical professor, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Queen's University Belfast.

All members of the care team can get burned out, not just the physicians, explained Tom Gallo, president of the Association of Community Cancer Centers.