Interviews

Richard Snyder, MD, executive vice president of Facilitated Health Networks and chief medical officer at Independence Blue Cross, explains how value-based agreements can benefit providers, patients, and payers.

Greater impact from programs like 340B and site-neutrality, as well as, an emphasis on the economies of scale and economies of intelligence, can assist community oncology practices in delivering high-quality care, said Tracy Bahl, MBA, president and chief executive officer of OneOncology.

Ruxolitinib was recently approved to treat acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), and trials are ongoing to understand the best way to use the treatment with transplantation, said David Snyder, MD, associate chair of the Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation at City of Hope.

With all the consolidation that’s taking place, practices are still trying to grow, explained Terrill Jordan, chief executive officer of Regional Cancer Care Associates.

Employers did not intentionally set out to address social determinants of health, but the programs they were implementing were doing so, said Michael Thompson, president and chief executive officer of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions.

By communicating with oncologists, Flatiron enhances their understanding of potential issues in clinics and how technology can enhance clinical workflow, said Bobby Green, MD, chief medical officer at Flatiron.

Tesh Khullar, senior vice president & advisor, Flatiron Health, explains what efforts are needed to make sure providers are comfortable prescribing biosimilars.

Lisa Lancaster, MD, assistant professor of medicine at Vanderbilt Health, discusses how sleep apnea is a comorbidity for other lung diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and interstitial lung disease.

Lee Schwartzberg, MD, FACP, executive director, West Cancer Center, looks back on the first year of OneOncology and discusses what's to come in the next year.

The healthcare system is heavily focused on removing low-value care from the healthcare system, explained Lawrence N. Shulman, MD, director of the Center for Global Cancer Medicine at the Abramson Cancer Center, and professor of Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

We learn most when we have benchmarking and we can examine our own processes of care, explained Michael Kolodziej, MD, vice president and chief innovation officer at ADVI Health, Inc.

Carolyn Starrett, senior vice president, Provider Solutions, Flatiron Health, outlines how Flatiron's OncoEMR is helping practices reduce costs and succeed in value-based models.

Mental health care is an area of focus for the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, because this care is getting worse despite there being more acceptance regarding the need for improved mental health, said Michael Thompson, president and chief executive officer of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions.

Offering clinical trials is paramount, explained Bradley Prechtl, MBA, chief executive officer of Florida Cancer Specialists and the American Oncology Network.

In order to understand what brings value to patients, you have to talk and listen to them, and you’ve got to do that in an intentional, thought through way, explained James Hamrick, MD, senior medical director at Flatiron Health.

Richard Snyder, MD, executive vice president of Facilitated Health Networks and chief medical officer at Independence Blue Cross, discusses how the increasing share of novel, costly therapies will impact the prevalence of value-based agreements.

Jeff Patton, MD, chief executive officer of Tennessee Oncology, discusses if there's concern over what comes when the Oncology Care Model (OCM) ends.

Practices are going to have to decide which biosimilar manufacturers they want to be able to partner with, explained Tesh Khullar, senior vice president & advisor, Flatiron Health.

Initiating sustainable growth in clinical practices can be difficult, but through economies of scale derived from partnerships and performance data collection, optimal care can be administered efficiently, said Erich Mounce, chief operating officer, OneOncology.

There are formal criteria to identify progression in myelofibrosis, but patients can progress in many different ways, said Prithviraj Bose, MD, of MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Jan Hillert, MD, PhD, professor and senior physician in the department of clinical neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, discusses the body of knowledge on using stem cell transplants to treat patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Amila Patel, PharmD, BCOP, technical lead, Clinical Oncology, Flatiron Health, discusses how Flatiron is working to implement clinical workflow features that expand beyond the electronic health record (EHR).

Steven R. Feldman, MD, PhD, professor of dermatology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, discusses how some drugs for psoriasis are less effective in the presence of metabolic syndrome.

Utilizing, and expanding upon, available technology in medical practices can efficiently improve healthcare, said Bobby Green, MD, chief medical officer at Flatiron.

The main thing that the Oncology Care Model (OCM) has brought is a shift in the mindset, said Terrill Jordan, chief executive officer of Regional Cancer Care Associates.

Michael Kolodziej, MD, vice president and chief innovation officer at ADVI Health, Inc., outlines the trends he expects to see in the coming years that will impact oncology.

Nina Chavez, MBA, FACMPE, chief operating officer, New Mexico Oncology Hematology Consultants, Ltd., discusses best practices for community oncologists to stay ahead of changes in policies and the drug market.

Lee Schwartzberg, MD, FACP, executive director, West Cancer Center, discusses exclusion of men from the US Preventive Services Task Force's (USPSTF's) updated BRCA screening recommendation update.

The healthcare system has gotten better at placing more of a priority on patient-centered care, but the progress has been slow, said James Hamrick, MD, senior medical director at Flatiron Health.

After the approval of fedratinib, familiarity may keep people using ruxolitinib to treat myelofibrosis or polycythemia vera, but it’s good to know there is a back-up if needed for patients who don’t respond adequately, said David Snyder, MD, associate chair of the Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation at City of Hope.