Dr Stuart Goldberg: Patient Input and Data Analysis Are Keys to Value in Oncology

When discussing value in oncology, the outcomes that matter are those that are important to the patient, said Stuart Goldberg, MD, chief medical officer, Cancer Outcomes Tracking and Analysis, John Theurer Cancer Center. He also discussed how the use of data to stratify patients is important for providing value-based cancer care.

Transcript (slightly modified)

What key factors can ensure that cancer programs are more patient-centered?

Value is the new word in oncology and in payment models, and we define value as outcomes divided by cost. That’s pretty easy, but the question is how do we define outcomes? In patient-centric models, we need to remember that the outcomes are those outcomes that are important to the patient. In cancer we may think of overall survival, but how do we account for the patient who chooses hospice or palliative care? We need to be able to think about what from the patient’s standpoint is important to them and then put that into our equation.

Data analytics and outcomes tracking can inform and improve care delivery. What has been the experience at the John Theurer Cancer Center?

Data will be key to understanding any value-based program. I actually run a data company that analyzes outcomes and costs for patients with cancer. We’ve focused on stratifying patients, because cancer isn’t 1 disease. Breast cancer is not just breast cancer, there’s HER2/neu positive and HER2/neu negative. There’s ER positive and ER negative. And part of the problem with analyzing oncology data has been the complexity. So we’ve developed an entire new lexicon, a new classification system, to stratify patients. And now we have to even think about the comorbidities like diabetes or heart disease, which are also going to affect the outcomes and the cost.