Latest Conference Articles

AI, patient voice in pathways, and caregiver support are shaping community oncology, AON leaders said at Patient-Centered Oncology Care.

Susan Sabo-Wagner, MSN, RN, OCN, NEA-BC, discusses how data builds payer trust, reduces prior authorization, and expands access in community oncology.

Cathy Eng, MD, FACP, FASCO, says young patients with colorectal cancer often look healthy and present at stage IV, making symptom awareness critical.

At inSPire2026, experts highlighted gaps in specialty therapy payment, 340B data, clinical trials, and AI-driven care.

Sustainable models require asking what a result shows, what design produced it, and whether the design was built to measure value or just produce a number.

CAR T-cell therapy must be treated as a complete "vein-to-vein" episode, with community practices needing to take control of cases for a period of time.

Pharmacy leaders examined AI for authorizations, adherence, patient access, and efficient specialty pharmacy benefits in health-system care.

Panelists say drug price negotiation, Medicaid changes, prior authorization, and 340B reform strain community oncology.

Mayo Clinic's Scott Soefje, PharmD, MBA, explains how logistics, contracts, and cost shape access to new cancer drugs and high-cost drug reviews.

The 2026 COA Payer Exchange and Innovation Summit began with a panel on AI and the ever-changing digital infrastructure in community oncology.

Caregiver shortages limit access to transplant, CAR T, and bispecific therapies, and no system offers replacement support, says Duke's Thomas LeBlanc, MD, MA.

The IRA's Medicare out-of-pocket cap is easing costs for patients with cancer, but community oncology leaders warn price cuts are straining practices.

Even top academic centers struggle to keep pace with precision medicine, says William K. Oh, MD, who is prioritizing clinician education at Yale.

In part 2, Christine Pfaff, RPh, MBA, explores reimbursement gaps, new payment models, and payer partnerships needed to expand cellular therapy access.

In part 2, Rosa Novo discusses how employers can expand access to cancer screening and why they need a greater voice in shaping cancer care.

AI could ease oncology's drug development "traffic jam," while biomarker subsetting drives more personalized cancer care, David Spigel, MD, says.

Amanda Green, MPH, discusses how employers can improve benefit awareness, care navigation, cancer prevention, and cost strategies.

Debra Patt, MD, PhD, MBA, MPH, discusses how AI can streamline prior authorization and revenue cycle workflows in community oncology.

Chester Good, MD, MPH, shares data and strategies used by UPMC to evaluate value-based contracting in specialty pharmacy.

Advanced primary care, return-to-work support, and survivorship follow-up are key employer cancer strategies, said Karen van Caulil, PhD.

Two posters report 3.9% first-year GLP-1 discontinuation and a 5-day median time to first fill under pharmacist-led care.

Sophy Levine, PharmD, discusses how an integrated health system specialty pharmacy may help lower 1-year GLP-1 discontinuation.

Community oncologists cited prior authorization as a care barrier, even as AI adoption doubled in 2026, according to the Oncology Care Index.

Community oncology faces high costs and staffing hurdles for trials; Lucio N. Gordan, MD, urges pragmatic designs matching real-world patients.

In part 2, David Johnson, MD, MPH, discusses how real-time data can sustain gold carding, ease prior authorization burden, and ensure accountability.

Panelists say IRA, Most Favored Nation rules and fragmented data are freezing value-based deals for durable one-time therapies.

Adaolisa Anaka, PharmD, BCACP, AAHIVP, discusses a pharmacist-led model that targets access barriers to GLP-1 obesity therapy.

Payers say NCCN guideline concordance sets a baseline for cancer coverage, but cost and formulary variation may still limit access.