Oncology

Outlining a set of issues that need to be addressed under the Oncology Care Model (OCM), the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) is urging the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation to delay the October 2019 deadline for practices to transition to 2-sided risk under the model.

“How do you currently collaborate with your primary care colleagues in caring for patients with cancer?” This was how Larissa Nekhlyudov, MD, MPH, opened a session titled “Bringing the Primary Care Physician Back Into Cancer Care,” during the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Annual Meeting, held in Chicago, Illinois from May 31-June 4, 2019.

This is part 3 of a 3-part vaccine series covering the potential of vaccines for infectious diseases, the impact of the antivaccination movement, and the promise of vaccines for cancer treatment. Read part 1 and part 2.

In the first of a series of interviews with key opinion leaders (KOLs), Amy Ellis, director of quality and value-based care at Northwest Medical Specialties, discusses practice transformation with Jess Quiring, a patient navigator at New Mexico Cancer Center.

The median lag time from first-in-human to first-in-child trials of oncology drugs that were ultimately approved by FDA is 6.5 years.

The long time between when a performance period ends and when the report comes out in the Oncology Care Model (OCM) can make it difficult to measure the impact specific changes are making, said David Ortiz, OCM program director at Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care.

Alliances are going to help community oncology participate in things that, as individual practices, they don‘t have the opportunity to do, said Barry Russo, chief executive officer of The Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders.

With CancerIQ, we’re really going to be helping push population health into the oncology arena where we can hopefully predict and preempt this very costly and devastating disease well in advance, says Feyi Olopade Ayodele, MBA, chief executive officer at CancerIQ.

The Oncology Care Model (OCM) has set off a ripple of change in cancer care that extends beyond the patients who are in the model, said David Ortiz, OCM program director at Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care.

Patients with primary care appointments in the morning were more likely to have orders for and receive recommended breast and colorectal cancer screenings.

Outcomes for patients with cancer are continuously improving, but the increasingly complex healthcare system, new payment and delivery models that place more risk on practices, and rising costs of therapies has made it difficult for independent oncology practices to thrive and survive. However, independent practices present an important part of cancer care, delivering care to patients who are not near large hospital-based systems at lower costs.

Pharmacists, social support services, an information technology team, and financial counselors all come together to encompass the care for the patient, says Beth Wittmer, RN, OCN, manager of care management at Florida Cancer Specialists and Research Institute.