All Oncology News

Improvements in quality of care and reductions in hospitalizations were minimal

More and more solo practices are facing a transformation that is neither small nor simple in the current accountable care environment.

For the first time, physicians have a clearer understanding of the optimum age for prophylactic oophorectomy in patients with BRCA mutations who want to reduce their risk of ovarian, fallopian tube, and breast cancer.

In an interview with OncLive, Jeffrey S. Weber, MD, PhD, from the Moffitt Cancer Center, University of South Florida, Tampa, explored the utilization of molecular and immune-targeted therapies as treatments for patients with advanced melanoma.

Results from the final report of the 2013 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Security Survey suggest that physician practices and health care organizations such as hospitals view their own staff members as the greatest source of patient information and confidentiality security breaches.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is caving to pressure from the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association, and the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) to conduct far more extensive end-to-end testing to assure proper adjudication and payment of claims as the October 1 deadline for the ICD-10 transition looms

The second-line administration of ramucirumab in combination with docetaxel has shown a statistically significant improvement in overall survival and progression-free survival compared with placebo plus docetaxel in patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Traditionally, palliative care for patients with cancer is geared towards end-of-life measures, but a new study from the Princess Margaret Cancer Center in Toronto suggests patients who receive palliative care earlier in their cancer therapy report improved quality of life and greater satisfaction.

Providing access to health information technology and health information exchanges isn't always enough to avoid ordering duplicative tests

High-tech eyewear could soon help surgeons remove tumors from patients with breast cancer or melanoma by allowing them to see the margins of tumors more accurately when a dye is used to fluoresce a tumor's borders.

To reduce the costs of cancer, community oncologists increase the use of evidence-based treatments, standardize care with pathways, transition away from fee-for-service, and change communication with patients about reasonable end-of-life care.

Giants of Cancer Care is now accepting nominations for the 2014 awards program.

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

Regional Cancer Care Associates will collaborate with OncLive to develop informative resources for oncology professionals that advance patient care.

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.

The FDA has expanded the approval of ibrutinib to include the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia who have received at least one previous therapy.

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.

Merck announced the signing of three separate clinical collaboration agreements to evaluate the potential of its investigational anti-PD-1 immunotherapy MK-3475 across multiple tumor types

The FDA has granted a priority review designation to the intravenous pan-HDAC inhibitor belinostat (Beleodaq) as a treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma

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.

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.

Eltrombopag has received a Breakthrough Therapy designation from the FDA for the treatment of cytopenias in patients with severe aplastic anemia who have had insufficient response to immunosuppressive therapy.

The phase III SELECT trial of the investigational agent lenvatinib (E7080) met its primary endpoint of progression-free survival (PFS) in patients with radioiodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer (RR-DTC), according to Eisai Inc., the company that is developing the agent.

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.

Final results from the phase II PALOMA-1 trial continue to support the dramatic efficacy of palbociclib plus letrozole in postmenopausal patients with locally advanced or newly diagnosed estrogen receptor ER-positive, HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer.

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.

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.

Immunotherapy has become an increasingly appealing therapeutic strategy for patients with cancer, with many late-stage clinical trials demonstrating overall survival (OS) advantages in melanoma and castrationresistant prostate cancer.