Latest Conference Articles

Kathy Oubre, MS, CEO of Pontchartrain Cancer Center, discusses the use of biosimilars and how pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) as well as payers have challenged the biosimilar market.

Debra Patt, MD, PhD, MBA, executive vice president at Texas Oncology, discusses her recent testimony to the US Senate on a case in which prior authorization caused a 6-week wait for a consult.

As much as immuno-oncology has been a leap forward, the ability to address immune-related adverse events is critical to making these therapies available in settings beyond academic centers; thus, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network offers clinical guidelines for management of toxicities.

Nicolas Ferreyros, managing director at Community Oncology Alliance (COA), discusses the recent Senate commerce hearing on pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which brought bipartisan attention and energy towards addressing the concerns related to PBMs in Washington.

Biomarker testing is a key tool in lung cancer treatment, and Kentucky recently passed a law requiring payers to cover biomarker tests with the intention to address high rates of lung cancer in the state.

Natalie S. Callander, MD, director of the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center Myeloma Clinical Program, reviewed the treatment landscape at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) 2023 Annual Conference.

Mike Lattanzi, MD, genitourinary medical oncologist, Texas Oncology, discusses recent findings from studies he participated in on targeted therapies for muscle-invasive bladder cancer.

Kathy Oubre, MS, CEO of Pontchartrain Cancer Center, discusses patient advocacy and legislative issues that will continue to define the future of community oncology.

The keynote session highlighted trends in COVID-19 and other respiratory illness rates, a bounce back in health care utilization, biosimilar market trends, new product launches, and more.

Davey B. Daniel, MD, chief medical officer at OneOncology, shares his insights on health equity practices, as well as the importance of developing clinical models within community oncology.

Debra Patt, MD, PhD, MBA, executive vice president at Texas Oncology, discusses financial drivers affecting community oncology as well as new advances within cancer care that allow it to be treated as a chronic disease.

Representatives from Magellan Rx Management provided a detailed overview of current treatment options in ophthalmology and the impact that biosimilars could have during a session at AMCP 2023.

A panel at the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) 2023 Community Oncology Conference highlights the evolution of taking on risk, developing stratification models, and collaborating to learn from fellow providers.

Michael Burger, senior consultant at Point-of-Care Partners, explains that real-time benefit check lets physicians know how much a drug will cost the patient at the time they're writing the prescription, allowing them to give the patient a treatment they know they can afford.

In this AMCP Market Insights session, panelists discussed best practices and challenges when it comes to prescribing antibody drug conjugates, from the payer, provider, and patient perspectives, based on survey findings.

Among these treatments is an aflibercept product with improved dosing for the patient that is coming up for approval in a few months, explained Jeffrey Casberg, senior director of pharmacy at IPD Analytics.

Capitol Hill experts taking part in the Community Oncology Alliance's (COA) Community Oncology Conference said Friday that bipartisan awareness of pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) practices has reached a point that they believe Congress may finally act, if only to require greater transparency.

Panelists at the Value-Based Insurance Design Summit discussed research and reforms to address the high cost of medications and the impact it has on equitable access to treatment.

The lower number needed to treat suggests that ruxolitinib cream may be more effective for patients with atopic dermatitis (AD), according to a poster presented at AMCP 2023.

Amy Valley, vice president for Clinical Strategy and Technology Solutions at Cardinal Health, discusses challenges presented within the oncology community, and how Cardinal Health is addressing these issues.

Ben Jones, vice president of Government Relations and Public Policy at the US Oncology Network, discussed the Enhancing Oncology Model (EOM), and why it's such an important topic at this year's conference.

Advantages to using surrogate vs clinical end points in drug approvals include earlier access, but there can be concerns about the efficacy and end result of the drug, said Yuqian Liu, PharmD, senior director of specialty clinical solutions at Magellan Rx Management.

Pharmacy benefit manager reform is a major trend in state managed care policy, said Adam Colborn, director of government relations at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP).

Implementing a strategy that focuses on dose rounding for chemotherapies can have a 3-fold impact of decreasing drug costs, minimizing drug waste, and improving treatment efficiency. This strategy and its benefits were explored in a session on day 2 of AMCP 2023.

A chief concern among those considering the upcoming alternative payment model in oncology, the Enhancing Oncology Model (EOM): Practices will have to take on downside risk immediately.

The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) retains the spirit of an upstart advocacy group, while working to look ahead at innovative technologies, care delivery trends, and other events that threaten independent practices, said oncology leaders while attending their annual meeting this week.

In this session at AMCP 2023, speakers broke down the challenges many managed care organizations face when wanting to collect detailed data on health disparities and proffered potential strategies that may help to facilitate gathering these data to address inequitable health care access.

Scott Soefje, PharmD, director of pharmacy cancer care at Mayo Clinic, explains the various ways drug dose rounding can reduce waste, reduce costs, and make drug administration more efficient.

Some challenges linking medication adherence to medical cost offsets include the potential of reverse causality, omitted variable bias, how adherence is measured between studies, and the outdated nature of some of the most-cited literature, said Ben Urick, PharmD, PhD, principal health outcomes researcher at Prime Therapeutics.

On the first full day of conference activity at AMCP 2023, a morning session examined prior authorization (PA) through a lens of refining the current process and the potential role of clinical trial data in PA criteria.