Tony Berberabe, MPH

Oncology practices looking to update their EHR to be ICD-10 compliant are facing an even greater cost than originally estimated.

Biopharmaceutical companies that administer patient assistance programs (PAPs) well in terms of service and support parameters seem to benefit from a halo effect among their oncologist customers, according to "PAP Utilization in Cancer Care," a Cogent Reports survey from Market Strategies International, a market research company.

Providers who are eligible to participate in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) electronic health record (EHR) incentive program have a one month reprieve to show that their practices are using the technology in a meaningfully useful way.

Removing a wider margin around the edge of a cancerous breast tumor can potentially reduce additional breast surgeries and improve patient outcomes.

Lawmakers have moved to reform Medicare's troublesome physician payment formula with an update that uses a single conversion factor to determine the physician fee schedule.

Genmab, the publicly traded, international biotechnology company, has an oncology pipeline that focuses on two classes of drugs: naked antibodies and antibody drug conjugates

A news story from Bloomberg Business News suggests that insurers who are participating in government-run health insurance exchanges will be required to increase "essential community providers" in their local geographic area by 30% by 2015.

Although new physician compensation models promote pay-for-value, episodic bundles, and risk-adjusted bundles, physicians in non-solo practices are compensated using four methods: base salary, compensation based on personal productivity, compensation based on practice financial performance, and bonus based on factors other than personal productivity and practice financial performance.

A survey about physician practice readiness for the upcoming ICD-10 deadline suggests that half will only start preparing in May 2014 for the transition.

Creating an enhanced, common health information exchange (HIE) pipeline where clinicians, payers, and patients share structured information from multiple electronic medical record/electronic record platforms would effectively manage costs and enhance patient care in oncology, according to a recent paper published in the Journal of Oncology Practice.

An updated analysis, conducted after 11 years of observation, demonstrated continued improved outcomes with the addition of radiotherapy to oral antiandrogen therapy in men with locally advanced prostate cancer.

Accessing and processing data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) is the leading operational challenge faced by accountable care organizations (ACOs), according to a large-scale survey conducted by the National Association of ACOs.

Some researchers believe the uncontrolled cell division that defines cancer is a characteristic of damage that occurs at the telomeres, the protective caps at the end of the chromosomes that contain the cell's genetic material.

While hospitals and cancer centers are taking cues from the hospitality industry, office practices are learning that improving the patient flow aids in running an efficient office.

While hospitals and cancer centers are taking cues from the hospitality industry-think hoteliers like Marriott, Hyatt, and even Ritz-Carlton-office practices are learning that improving the patient flow aids in running an efficient office. That is translating into increased profitability.

A new medication tracking system to counter drug diversion and counterfeiting might have some oncologists feeling a little safer about the chemotherapy they prescribe for their patients.

Dartmouth University researchers started investigating the phenomenon called the Cherenkov effect in 2011

When a patient receives the diagnosis of cancer, regardless of stage or severity of the disease, one of the many questions asked is how to pay for the treatment.

Last Wednesday, the House of Representatives voted on the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014, with the Senate passing the bill last night.

Harnessing multiple components of the immune system to fight cancer is the focus of NewLink Genetics' clinical pipeline.

The anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody pidilizumab showed promising clinical activity and was safely administered to patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma after autologous hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has released a set of guides and interactive tools to help medical practices improve their use of electronic health records.

Researchers in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of North Carolina Hospitals found that almost one-third of low-risk and almost one-half of intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients received a staging bone scan.

A new report about healthcare provider experience with clinical decision support tools says the systems are not integrated enough to deliver the strategic direction providers are looking for.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will make public a once previously confidential database of Medicare claims.

Single-agent neoadjuvant capecitabine combined with radiation therapy demonstrated similar outcomes as previously established standards of care for patients with stage II or stage III rectal cancer.

A survey of 46 representatives from accountable care organizations (ACOs) indicates that critical gaps remain in the organizations' ability to support, manage, and ensure appropriate medication use.

Patient care is shifting from inpatient to outpatient settings, especially in oncology.

With the October deadline for ICD-10 transition looming, now might be the time to consider integrating current electronic health records systems with clinically-driven revenue cycle management (RCM) software.

The transition to ICD-10 is likely to cost your practice both time and money, making a smooth implementation process all the more important.