ONCare Alliance

The Caris Precision Oncology Alliance has brought together academic institutions and community practices with the goal of performing research and exchanging evidence and ideas for new types of tests, said W. Michael Korn, MD.

Highlands Oncology Group has found the most success getting the word out about its lung cancer screening program by directly engaging with primary care physicians (PCPs), said Joanna Thompson of Highlands Oncology Group.

There are certain adjustments that CMS can make to Oncology Care First (OCF) during the delay that CMS is already doing successfully in other alternative payment models, said Mike Fazio, at Archway Health.

Throughout the Oncology Care Model (OCM), practices have dealt with a data lag, but in Oncology Care First (OCF) data is expected to be released more frequently, said Mike Fazio, of Archway Health.

Delayed care due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has created a lot of uncertainty around alternative payment models (APMs) like the Oncology Care Model (OCM), said Basit Chaudhry, MD, PhD, founder of Tuple Health.

There are certain diseases, like lung cancer, that are leading the way in precision medicine and where broad molecular testing is recommended, said W. Michael Korn, MD, of University of California, San Francisco, and Caris Life Sciences.

There are ways practices can take advantage of the delay of Oncology Care First (OCF) to continue learning from their experience in Oncology Care Model (OCM), said Mike Fazio, of Archway Health.

In the past, there was a greater discrepancy in access to precision oncology testing, which has closed somewhat; however, there are some disenfranchised populations who still struggle to access this care.

The Highlands Oncology Group partners with primary care providers to identify patients at high risk of lung cancer so the specialists can do a more in-depth screening, explained Joanna Thompson, multidisciplinary program manager, Highlands Oncology Group.

In a pair of sessions at the Quality Cancer Care Alliance Virtual Fall Leadership Summit, speakers discussed the promise of precision medicine for not only informing individuals’ cancer treatment decisions but also identifying individuals at high risk before disease develops.

As the costs of cancer care continue to rise in the United States, eyes are increasingly turning to payment reform.

The Quality Cancer Care Alliance is focusing on 2 major topics: value-based care and innovation, and precision oncology is the intersection of those 2 issues, said Sibel Blau, MD.

There is a lot of uncertainty among providers participating in federal alternative payment models (APMs) given the general election and the upcoming Supreme Court case on the Affordable Care Act (ACA).