Latest Conference Articles

During a session at the 2018 Genitourinay Cancers Symposium, Abhishek Solanki, MD, MS, assistant professor, radiation oncology, Loyola University of Chicago discussed the role of immunotherapy in patients undergoing radiation therapy for bladder cancer.

With new guidelines on how to treat and manage muscle-invasive bladder cancer, Jeffrey Holzbeierlein, MD, FACS, professor of urology, director of urologic oncology, interim chair of the department of urology, University of Kansas Health System, provided insight into how the guidelines have changed the management of the disease at the 2018 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

Brenton Fargnoli, MD, medical director of value-based care and director of product marketing and strategy at Flatiron Health, recognizes the importance of benchmarking to further improvement.

During a session at the 2018 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, 2 doctors debate whether there is existing evidence for local treatment for patients newly diagnosed with metastatic disease.

For the first time, molecular therapies, such as radium-223, provide a survival-prolonging agent for men with advanced prostate cancer affecting the bone, explained Joe O'Sullivan, MD, FRCR, clinical professor, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Queen's University Belfast.

Osteomimicry may contribute to the uptake of radium-223 within bone metastases and may subsequently enhance the therapeutic benefit of radium-223, according to an abstract presented by Andrew Armstrong, MD, associate professor of medicine, Duke University School of Medicine, at the 2018 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

Apalutamide significantly improved median metastasis-free survival by 2 years in men with nonmetastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (nmCRPC), according to study results presented by Eric Jay Small, MD, MD, FASCO, chief of the division of hematology and oncology in the department of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), deputy director of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, and professor in residence in the Department of Medicine and Department of Urology, at the 2018 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium.

Only 20% of patients who have a heart attack undergo recommended cardiac rehabilitation, so cardiologists are looking at ways to encourage patients to go to rehab, explained Justin Bachmann, MD, MPH, FACC, instructor of Medicine and Health Policy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams, MD, MPH, made a surprise visit to AcademyHealth’s National Health Policy Conference Tuesday morning and took to the podium to declare that he wants to be the first surgeon general to issue a report showing the links between health and a healthy economy.

We have been living in a groundhog world for the past several decades when it comes to healthcare spending, said Robert Dubois of the National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC) during AcademyHealth’s National Health Policy Conference, in Washington, DC. The session called When Are We Going to Get Serious About Health Care Spending in the United States? came a few days after the NPC launched an effort to have a dialogue around this issue by issuing a call for research around the topic and partnering with Health Affairs on a campaign called Going Below the Surface.

Before undertaking something like implementing the Oncology Care Model, practices should understand the scope of the project and the overall importance it can have for patient care, said Terrill Jordan, CEO of Regional Cancer Care Associates.

Are Medicaid waivers meant to encourage able-bodied adults to work, or a return to poor laws of old? Or are they a means to get states that have not expanded Medicaid to expand? A diversity of viewpoints on these and other topics were on full display during Health Reform X.O: What Now, What Next?, the first session of AcademyHealth’s National Health Policy Conference.

When you have constant evolving contract, there are changes, and so some of the feedback I’m getting is that sometimes it’s hard to keep up with the changes, said Peter Aran, MD, medical director of Population Health Management at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma.

Providers should be involved in new reimbursement model development from day 1, said Roger Brito, DO, national director for oncology, Aetna.

When a drug becomes first-line, I would like to think that as a clinician I would have access to that, but most importantly that my patients would not have to have a bake sale or take out a second mortgage on their homes to get therapies that are designed specifically for them, said A. Mark Fendrick, MD, director of the Center for Value-Based Insurance Design at the University of Michigan.

Kathleen Lokay, president and CEO of Via Oncology, encourages physicians to educate patients on clinical pathways and discusses how the patient voice is heard.

Bo Gamble, director of Strategic Practice Initiatives at the Community Oncology Alliance (COA), explains how COA plays a role in supporting practices in preparing for Oncology Care Model.

Brenton Fargnoli, MD, medical director of value-based care and director of product marketing and strategy at Flatiron Health, predicts the future of the learning health system in the United States.

Over the next years, these spheres (ACOs, primary care, and oncology) that are going on in CMMI need to be coalesced together so that when we have learning collaboratives, not only do we have learning collaboratives within each of these spheres, but we learn from each other in these similar projects, said Peter Aran, MD, medical director of Population Health Management at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma.

Justin Bachmann, MD, MPH, FACC, instructor of Medicine and Health Policy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, discusses how cardiologists incorporate value-based care into their procedures.

Aetna is focusing on the healthcare triangle (patients, providers, and payers) and connecting those lines, said Roger Brito, DO, national director for oncology, Aetna.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a recognized disorder affecting both children and adults, but what is known about ADHD when it affects older adults, especially those nearing retirement age or those who are already retired? Kathleen G. Nadeau, PhD, is surveying this special population for research for an upcoming book. Nadeau, a psychologist in Maryland, spoke about this issue at the 2018 annual meeting of the American Professional Society of ADHD and Related Disorders.

In order to adapt to the Oncology Care Model (OCM), Regional Cancer Care Associates had to undergo the process of adjusting and customizing its electronic medical records, explained CEO Terrill Jordan.

We should try to remove barriers that are not only in place, but getting higher for clinicians and patients to get evidence-based care, said A. Mark Fendrick, MD, director of the Center for Value-Based Insurance Design at the University of Michigan.

Digital utilization can generate data with supporting evidence for clinical pathways that benefits clinicians, explained Kathleen Lokay, president and CEO of Via Oncology.

Can improved research designs answer questions that come up between doctors and patients, like better understanding the risks and benefits of prescription medicine for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)? Brian M. D'Onofrio, PhD, presented about translational epidemiology in a talk called The Risks and Benefits of ADHD: A Pharmacoepidemiologic Perspecitive to answer those questions at the 2018 annual meeting of the American Professional Society of ADHD and Related Disorders (APSARD).

Psychologist J. Russell Ramsay, PhD, presented at the 2018 annual meeting of the American Professional Society of ADHD and Related Disorders about his model for understanding and treating adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in his session, "Intentions into Actions: CBT for Adult ADHD."

The ability to have a plan that’s going to work and be large enough that it makes sense for those involved is a barrier for employers who want to pursue alternative payment models, said David Merrill, HR benefits manager, Volusia County, Florida, and John Robinson, CEBS, REBC, RHU, president and CEO, RobinsonBush.