Community Oncology Alliance (COA)

Edward Licitra, MD, PhD, medical oncologist, Astera Health Partners, discusses his thoughts on what value-based cancer care entails and how physicians can best align their goals with those of the patient and health plan.

A popular misconception of palliative care is that it only has importance toward making patients comfortable at the end of their lives, noted a palliative care physician on the first day of the 2021 Community Oncology Conference, presented by the Community Oncology Alliance.

Kathy Oubre, MS, chief operating officer of Pontchartrain Cancer Center, discusses cost-saving implications of biosimilars in oncology, as well as several barriers that continue to impede their use.

Ted Okon, MBA, executive director of the Community Oncology Alliance, discusses what influence the new administration may have on payment reform in oncology and issues regarding the 340B drug pricing program.

Day 1 of this year’s virtual Community Oncology Conference opened with a panel discussion that touched on all things related to the COVID-19 pandemic, with leaders presenting a unified front.

Jeff Patton, MD, CEO, OneOncology, and chairman of the board, Tennessee Oncology, discusses what influence COVID-19 will have on discussions at the Community Oncology Conference 2021, as well as takeaways he hopes audience members and participants gain from the conference.

Lalan Wilfong, MD, executive vice president, Value Based Care & Quality Programs, Texas Oncology, and co-chair, Payment Reform, Community Oncology Alliance, discusses implications of quality metrics in cancer care and what perspectives on the topic he is looking forward to hearing at the 2021 Community Oncology Conference.

Dinesh Kapur, MD, chair, OneCouncil, and managing partner, Eastern Connecticut Hematology and Oncology (ECHO), speaks on efforts made by by community oncology practices to improve minority representation in oncology clinical trials and implications of the COVID-19 pandemic ahead of the 2021 Community Oncology Conference.

Kathy Oubre, MS, chief operating officer, Pontchartrain Cancer Center, explores US adoption of biosimilars ahead of her panel discussion at the 2021 Community Oncology Conference, as well as what sessions she’s looking forward to attending.

Bo Gamble, Director of Strategic Practice Initiatives, Community Oncology Alliance, highlights his questions for the keynote speakers of the 2021 Community Oncology Conference, and takeaways he hopes audience members gain from the sessions.

Ted Okon, MBA, executive director, Community Oncology Alliance (COA), speaks on the most significant challenges members encountered in the past year managing the COVID-19 pandemic ahead of the 2021 Community Oncology Conference.

Jeff Patton, MD, CEO, OneOncology, chairman of the board, Tennessee Oncology, discusses what audience members should expect from the Community Oncology Conference 2021 and sessions he is looking forward to.

The Community Oncology Alliance's request includes declarations from community oncology practices detailing the anticipated ramifications should the Most Favored Nation rule become operative.

Kashyap Patel, MD, associate editor of Evidence-Based Oncology, a publication of The American Journal of Managed Care, will serve a 1-year term beginning in January.

As novel therapies drive up the cost of cancer care, federal policy decisions are being made that influence oncologists' ability to deliver cancer care, said Debra Patt, MD, PhD, MBA, MPH, of Texas Oncology.

Cancer screenings and treatments saw a sharp decline during the early months of the pandemic. The authors of a new study on the delays in care warn that the fallout may be grim.

Virtual Payer Exchange Summit on Oncology Payment Reform will be held October 27-28, 2020.

Telehealth is an effective substitute for some, but not all and in-person visits for cancer care should continue beyond COVID-19 public health emergency.

Patients and cancer care providers should not suffer from election-year politics, especially during a global pandemic.

Kashyap Patel, MD, CEO of Carolina Blood and Cancer Care, associate editor of Evidence-Based Oncology, and vice president of the Community Oncology Alliance, discusses his new book.

Oncology practices in 2-sided risk arrangements have reported mixed results, pointing to the need for more time to make the transition, said Michael Diaz, MD, president of Community Oncology Alliance.

Networking with other practices, sharing ideas, and getting physicians involved in the process can aid community practices moving to alternative payment models (APMs), said Michael Diaz, MD, president of Community Oncology Alliance.

Editor's Note: A book by Kashyap Patel, MD, reviewed in the April issue of Evidence-Based Oncology™, was previously titled, Dying Without Fear. Due to a change by the publisher, Penguin Random House India, the book is now titled Between Life and Death: From Despair to Hope. The book is available August 1, 2020 This review has been updated to reflect the change in the book's title.

The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) said it is worried that the safety of patients with cancer will be compromised if home infusion regulatory changes, brought about by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, expand; other groups support the changes, which affect Medicare patients using Part B drugs.

Part of the reason COA recommended a 'ramp up' period is we need time for the vendors to understand what they need to be incorporating in their software, said Michael Diaz, MD, president of Community Oncology Alliance.

"We want to make sure practices have time to learn, understand, adapt, and modify, to a new Oncology Care Model," said Michael Diaz, MD, president of Community Oncology Alliance.

While there are similarities to the Oncology Care Model, the new model has features “that could have a substantial impact on practices that choose to participate,” the authors write.

Results come at the decision point for practices: Will it be 1-sided or 2-sided risk?

The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) has submitted formal comments to CMS about the agency’s proposed Radiation Oncology Model. In the letter, COA noted that while they appreciate CMS' decision to issue a model that is focused on radiation oncology and to transition providers to value-based care, they also emphasized their opposition to mandatory demonstration projects and expressed concern that the proposed model will create unnecessary burdens and challenges to physicians.

Following CMS’ decision to make chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy available to Medicare beneficiaries nationwide, including in the community oncology setting, the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) applauded the decision.