Oncology

Early intervention to identify social needs means issues get caught sooner and patients can avoid or minimize financial toxicity, said Abra Kelson, MSW, LSWA-IC, medical social work supervisor, Northwest Medical Specialties.

The first day of the 2019 Community Oncology Conference, the major annual meeting of the Community Oncology Alliance (COA), featured an update on its effort to find alternatives to CMS' Oncology Care Model.

There's still a big disparity in reimbursement between hospitals and community-based practices, but is looking into ways to address this, explained Ben Jones, vice president, Government Relations & Public Policy, McKesson Specialty Health.

The Patient Access Network (PAN) Foundation today opened a new patient assistance program for people living with Waldenstrom macroglobulinemia, a rare type of blood cancer that originates in the lymphatic system and is characterized by an excess of abnormal white blood cells and proteins called immunoglobulins.

Today we’re speaking with Dr Elizabeth Mynatt, the executive director of the Institute for People and Technology and a professor in the College of Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr Mynatt and her team developed an app called MyPath that uses artificial intelligence to help guide a patient’s cancer journey.

As novel therapies drive up the cost of drugs, it is becoming increasingly difficult for community oncologists to keep costs below value-based care program targets, according to a new survey from Integra Connect.

The revolution in cancer care isn’t just about the wave of life-saving therapies, or the role of genetics in pinpointing exactly who should get which drug and when. As Ray D. Page, DO, PhD, FACOI, tells it, change also means getting back to the basics, so that the relationship between doctor and patient drives care—not insurance companies or Medicare or rules from the FDA.

Tom Gallo, the former president of the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC), and Ali McBride, PharmD, the current president of ACCC, discuss how their members feel about the state of cancer delivery, recent trends, addressing burnout, and sustainability of cancer care delivery.

A lack of diversity in cell lines used for laboratory studies means underrepresented populations and minorities might not benefit from precision medicines as quickly as people from European ancestry.

Ali McBride, PharmD, MS, BCOP, was named 2019-2020 president of the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) during its 45th Annual Meeting & Cancer Center Business Summit on March 22, 2019, in Washington, DC. McBride is the clinical coordinator of hematology/oncology at The University of Arizona Cancer Center.

Everyone at the practice is vital to the success of value-based care, which is really patient-centered care, said Jessa Dunivan, patient services manager, Northwest Medical Specialties.

At the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC)'s 45th Annual Meeting & Cancer Center Business Summit, Ali McBride, PharmD, MS, BCPS, BCOP, clinical coordinator of hematology/oncology in the Department of Pharmacy at The University of Arizona Cancer Center and president of ACCC, discussed the role of biosimilars in oncology and how familiar oncologists and their teams are with them.

Biomarker testing will start to evolve to look more at combination therapies, said Jarushka Naidoo, MB BCh, of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins.

The move to value-based care has increased the use of palliative care, and new research has found that conversations about end-of-life care should be happening earlier, said Toby C. Campbell, MD, MSCI, of the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center.

There are a lot of different ways for identifying patients that might have barriers to care or might be considered as high-risk, says Abra Kelson, MSW, LSWA-IC, medical social work supervisor, Northwest Medical Specialties.

Although there is still a need for more education around the use of biosimilars in cancer, it seems oncologists have become more knowledgeable in the past few years, said Gary H. Lyman, MD, MPH, of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance.

Every week, The American Journal of Managed Care® recaps the top managed care news of the week, and you can now listen to it on our podcast, Managed Care Cast.

Erich Mounce, chief operating officer, OneOncology, drew on his experience from West Cancer Center to discuss how community oncology can improve access to care and other inequalities in cancer care.

This week, the FDA sent out an alert to various healthcare professionals and the public to warn about the risks associated with the investigational use of venetoclax (Venclexta) for the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma (MM). The alert is based on data from the ongoing phase 3 BELLINI trial evaluating the drug for this treatment.

CancerIQ is reducing barriers that make it difficult to utilize genetic testing to predict or pre-empt a patient’s cancer diagnosis, explained Feyi Olopade Ayodele, MBA, chief executive officer at CancerIQ.

This week, the top managed care news included new primary prevention guidelines that could increase the use of some diabetes drugs; the FDA expanded criteria for which patients can take part in clinical trials; a summit on value-based insurance design showed the need for tough conversations with stakeholders.

Multigene testing provides a lot of information that providers have to be familiar with in order to adequately explain it to their patients, said John H. Ward, MD, Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah.

CMS’ proposal that patients be enrolled in a clinical trial or registry to get Medicare coverage for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies will help improve access, for the most part, but there is the risk that some organizations will choose not to offer this treatment, said John W. Sweetenham, MD, of Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah.

A diverse panel of representatives from different practice models provided insights into what has worked for them and what has not in trying to improve cancer care. The discussion took place in Washington, DC, at the Association of Community Cancer Centers

While there is currently a presence of technology in healthcare, the future holds much more promise, said Allen Lichter, MD, FASCO, senior partner of TRG Healthcare.

Patients with high-risk breast cancer who receive a 21-gene assay genomic test may be able to avoid chemotherapy and ultimately save a significant amount of money.

Fear and denial can contribute to a patient’s hesitancy to seek prompt treatment, says Beth Wittmer, RN, OCN, manager of care management at Florida Cancer Specialists and Research Institute.

On day 2 of the Community Oncology Alliance's annual Community Oncology Conference, held April 4-5 in Orlando, Florida, we spoke with Debra Patt, MD, MPH, MBA, executive vice president of Texas Oncology, and Jeffrey Vacirca, MD, chief executive officer of New York Cancer & Blood Specialists.

On day 1 of the Community Oncology Alliance (COA)'s annual Community Oncology Conference, held April 4-5 in Orlando, Florida, we spoke with Ted Okon, executive director of COA, and Sibel Blau, MD, medical director of Northwest Medical Specialties, PLLC.

On day 2 of the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC)'s 45th Annual Meeting & Cancer Center Business Summit, we spoke with Ali McBride, PharmD, MS, BCPS, BCOP, clinical coordinator of hematology/oncology in the Department of Pharmacy at The University of Arizona Cancer Center, and James Hamrick, MD, senior medical director at Flatiron Health.