Mary Caffrey is the Executive Editor for The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®). She joined AJMC® in 2013 and is the primary staff editor for Evidence-Based Oncology, the multistakeholder publication that reaches 22,000+ oncology providers, policy makers and formulary decision makers. She is also part of the team that oversees speaker recruitment and panel preparations for AJMC®'s premier annual oncology meeting, Patient-Centered Oncology Care®. For more than a decade, Mary has covered ASCO, ASH, ACC and other leading scientific meetings for AJMC readers.
Mary has a BA in communications and philosophy from Loyola University New Orleans. You can connect with Mary on LinkedIn.
Payers, Value-based Care Policies Impact Biosimilar Adoption, Cardinal Health Report Finds
February 8th 2022Cardinal Health's report, “2022 Biosimilars Report: The U.S. Journey and Path Ahead,” outlines how biosimilars will move beyond their comfort zones in oncology and rheumatology and more boldly into therapeutic areas such as ophthalmology and diabetes care.
COA Survey: Practices Find OCM a Success; Some Added Services May Be at Risk
January 31st 2022The Oncology Care Model (OCM) is set to expire June 30, 2022. With no successor on the horizon, respondents to a recent survey by the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) say features such as dedicated navigators and weekend appointments could be reduced or lost if revenues that supported them are eliminated.
Phase 3 Data for Pembrolizumab in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Show Significant Improvements in OS, PFS
January 18th 2022Merck had previously received accelerated approval for pembrolizumab for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); an FDA panel left the approval in place while waiting on results from KEYNOTE-394.
Dr Kenneth Cohen Discusses COVID-19 Impact on Low-Value Care
January 17th 2022Kenneth Cohen, MD, FACP, executive director of clinical research at UnitedHealth Group Research and Development and senior national medical director at OptumCare, explains why low-value care still exists and how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the issue.
Interview: Real-World Data Show Daratumumab 1L Improves OS in Some Patients With MM
January 11th 2022For patients with multiple myeloma (MM) who are not eligible for transplant, should novel treatments be used right away? Or should clinicians save the best potential therapies for relapses, which are inevitable with this disease?
Blue Ridge Cancer Care’s Goldschmidt Presents Data on Managing Hematological Events
January 9th 2022Studies have shown that administering trilaciclib prior to chemotherapy can reduce myelosuppression and improve health-related quality of life. Jerome Goldschmidt, MD, said future studies will look at how it interacts with immunotherapy.
Dr Steven Pergam Describes Evolving COVID-19 Recommendations for Cancer Community
January 9th 2022Steven Pergam, MD, MPH, director of infection prevention at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and infectious disease physician at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, describes the shifts in COVID-19 recommendations for patients with cancer and those receiving CAR T-cell therapy.
Dr Steven Pergam Discusses NCCN's Preference for mRNA Vaccines
January 7th 2022Steven Pergam, MD, MPH, director of infection prevention at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and infectious disease physician at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, discusses the National Comprehensive Cancer Network's (NCCN) preference for mRNA vaccines and how they work differently.
Dr Kenneth Cohen: Change in Reimbursement Model Required to Reduce Low-Value Care
January 6th 2022Kenneth Cohen, MD, FACP, executive director of clinical research at UnitedHealth Group Research and Development and senior national medical director at OptumCare, describes the main challenges to identifying, measuring, and reducing use of low-value care and the granular data needed to solve these challenges.
Dr Steven Pergam Explains NCCN COVID-19 Update
January 5th 2022Steven Pergam, MD, MPH, director of infection prevention at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and infectious disease physician at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, explains the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) update on COVID-19 vaccines and prevention.
Dr Adriaan Voors: Health Care Reimbursement May Affect SGLT2 Inhibitor Uptake
December 24th 2021Adriaan Voors, MD, professor of cardiology and director of the Heart Failure Clinic, University Medical Center Groningen, the Netherlands, explains why patients provided sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors in hospitals may be unable to continue the medication after discharge.
Precision Medicine Can Close Oncology Gaps—and Lead to “Doing Less”
December 20th 2021Physicians said it is in payers’ interest to use artificial intelligence to address social determinants of health, to cover tests, and to gather data. Doing so could let them stratify who needs certain screenings and diagnostic procedures and who doesn’t, which could lead to less consumption of health care.
In Oncology, Navigating PBMs Starts With Knowing What’s in the Contract
December 20th 2021Vertical integration of payers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) took flight with the mergers of Aetna and CVS Health and of Cigna and ExpressScripts. Panelists at Patient-Centered Oncology Care® said the shift has filtered down to affect access at the practice level.