Oncology Business Management

The United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) General Chapter is a good start for improving the protection of healthcare workers exposed to hazardous drugs, but more studies and safety protocols are needed, according to an American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) expert panel that evaluated USP and various other guidelines in a report last year.

Oncology practices that are participating in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation’s Oncology Care Model are willing to take on two-sided risk with value-based care and shift from a fee-for-service approach.

There is a year and a half remaining in the life of the Oncology Care Model, and although the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has leapt forward with a vision for the next-generation model of care Oncology Care First, many stakeholders feel that the Oncology Care Model is more than enough to think about right now.

John L. Marshall, MD, discusses physician burnout in oncology.

Many practices enrolled in the Oncology Care Model were expected to drop out of the value-based model rather than take on 2-sided risk, which would entail upside and downside financial exposure.

A better understanding of how unique germline variants affect the metabolism or elimination of individual agents or drug classes could lead to a truly revolutionary change in the way cancer is treated.

Anecdotes of gender inequality and sexual harassment abound among gynecologic oncologists, but until recently, there had been no study to measure the problem in this profession. Findings reported in June 2019 suggesting that high numbers of men and women in this field were subject to sexual harassment were no surprise to investigators. Instead, they have strengthened national gender discrimination and sexual harassment reform efforts in oncologic gynecology.

Even the most basic investigation into fundamental mechanisms of the development and progression of cancer in an in vitro system may generate data that, ultimately, prove vital to developing new approaches to prevent, diagnose, and treat malignant disease.

The aging of the baby boomer population and the growing number of cancer survivors have created a huge demand for oncology treatment services. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has compounded the need by ratcheting up standards for value-based care. To handle these additional needs, many oncology practices now turn to advanced practice providers, typically nurse practitioners or physician assistants, who are highly trained and capable of taking over many of the routine functions of the oncology clinic.