Oncology Business Management

The FDA has approved lanreotide for the treatment of patients with unresectable, well or moderately differentiated, locally advanced or metastatic gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.

Faced with steep regulations, slashed reimbursement rates, and a shift in focus from fee-for-service (FFS) to delivering value, insurers and physician groups are experimenting with new forms of payment incentives.

The FDA has approved the VEGFR-2 inhibitor ramucirumab (Cyramza) in combination with docetaxel for the treatment of patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumor has progressed during or following treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy.

The FDA has approved the JAK1/2 inhibitor ruxolitinib as treatment for patients with polycythemia vera who are resistant or intolerant to hydroxyurea

The FDA has approved the bispecific T cell engager antibody blinatumomab as a treatment for adult patients with Philadelphia chromosome-negative relapsed/refractory B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Molecular studies are increasingly utilized to develop an individual therapeutic approach based on abnormalities present in the setting of uncommon/rare cancers or in specific clinical situations where it is virtually certain that formal regulatory-based trials will never be undertaken.

On a recent day in hematology clinic, I stood dutifully by my attending as he sorted through bone marrow slides

It is important that clinicians engage with social media, since reputations are at risk by not knowing what is being said, shared, and discussed online about them online.

Over the past decade drug development in cancer has shifted to an increasingly gene target–based approach.

The FDA has approved bevacizumab in combination with chemotherapy for patients with recurrent platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.

ASCO members who need hands-on assistance in practice management, quality care assessment and improvement, and efficiency and business intelligence will be able to contact a soon to be established clinical affairs department at the organization.

How CTCs and Circulating Naked Tumor DNA-as Liquid Biopsies-Will Transform Diagnostic and Management of Oncology Patients

Compared to other industries, the medical profession has been late in recognizing the many benefits of social media. In the past few years, it has entered into an uneasy relationship with the new medium.

To help clinicians rethink and redesign their practices by moving from a model that is driven by quantity of care to one focused on patients' health outcomes, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will earmark $840 million to improve health outcomes and reduce unnecessary hospitalization and other overutilization of services.

In what was described as a very difficult decision, ODAC voted 5-2 against the accelerated approval of the HDAC inhibitor panobinostat in combination with bortezomib and dexamethasone as a treatment for patients with multiple myeloma who have received at least one prior therapy.

The FDA has approved the combination of ramucirumab and paclitaxel as a treatment for patients with previously treated advanced gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.

This past Friday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released nearly 3,000 pages of regulations finalizing 2015 payment rates for various providers and services in the Medicare program, including physicians.

Biopsies were found to be the most costly tool used in lung cancer diagnosis, and may be performed too frequently based on negative test results and adverse events.

Nearly two-thirds of patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer report experiencing financial burden during their treatment, according to a study from the University of Michigan.

The 12-month countdown to the adoption of ICD-10 has begun. ICD-10 represents the 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (usually referred to as "ICD"), now overseen by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Even as more hospitals seek to acquire medical groups and physician practices, this consolidation leads to higher expenditures through greater use of hospital-based ambulatory services, according to a recent study from the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health.

How can we slow down the growth of cancer costs and preserve-or better yet-enhance clinical outcomes?

Virtually everyone in the clinical laboratory business is now acquainted with Z-code identifiers. Each unique laboratory test should have a unique tracking code, even if more than one Z-code identifier is reported with a corresponding American Medical Association's Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) billing code.

Despite the promise associated with biomarker-based tools as a means of helping to guide cancer diagnosis and treatment, there is a potential stumbling block: insurance reimbursement.