All Oncology News

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

On December 30th, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) announced they recommend annual screening for lung cancer with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) in adults aged 55-80 years who have a 30 pack-year smoking history.

Provider-based research networks (PBRNs) make clinical trials available to community-based practices.

Although the changeover to using ICD-10 billing codes won't be mandatory until October 1, 2014, there are many coding changes to consider starting on January 1. Specifically, the reimbursement rate for some genetic testing and imaging involving breast cancer will see significant changes.

As new cancer therapies have prolonged life, an interesting question has arisen among community oncologists: "Is it better to transfer long-term cancer survivors to general practitioners or develop clinics for long-term survivors within cancer centers?"

A novel imaging technology was able to determine four days after treatment that experimental therapies for sarcoma were fighting the cancer in xenograft models

The mTOR inhibitor temsirolimus has limited utility in combination with frontline bevacizumab and as a second-line single agent for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma

The first oncology-specific accountable care organization (ACO) reported more than a 2% savings in its first year of existence.

The FDA has approved revised US Prescribing Information (USPI) and a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) for Iclusig® (ponatinib).

Alterations in specific genes involved in the formation of tissues and organs during embryonic development could be responsible for survival disparities seen between African-American and non-Latino white men with head and neck cancer.

The tiny "raise" touted in the latest temporary fix to Medicare's Sustainable Growth Rate, which was wrapped inside the bipartisan budget deal headed to President Obama's desk, is anything but good news for oncologists.

Aldoxorubicin demonstrated significant benefit to progression-free survival (PFS) compared with doxorubicin in patients with first-line, metastatic, locally advanced or unresectable soft tissue sarcomas

Hyponatremia is significantly associated with worse outcomes in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) who received treatment with VEGF- and mTOR-targeted agents

The FDA has granted a Fast Track designation to Lymphoseek (technetium Tc99m tilmanocept) as a radioactive diagnostic imaging agent for sentinel lymph node detection in patients with head and neck cancer.

In a recent blog post and echoed on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) web site, Robert Tagalicod, director of the CMS Office of E-Health Standards and Services and acting National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Jacob Reider, MD, announced that the deadline for stage 2 of the meaningful use program would be extended through 2016.

The current American health care payment system that is tied to high-cost procedures, including cancer care, demonstrates the system's shortfalls and inefficiencies.

Following a fast track designation from the FDA earlier this year, a phase II clinical trial is being initiated to evaluate SGX942 as a treatment for oral mucositis in patients with head and neck cancer.

The use of accountable care organizations (ACOs) among the Medicare population is growing in use. How well beneficiaries with high-risk, high cost conditions such as cancer, will fare under an ACO have not been determined, but a new study from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice suggests the possibility of significant reduction in Medicare spending.

Oncologists and other specialists who prescribe specialty medications are highly satisfied with their specialty pharmacy, but that satisfaction doesn't translate to some traditional drugstores.

Some radiation oncologists may breathe a little easier for now because the CMS has decided not to cap certain freestanding radiation oncology reimbursements in its Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule.

Medical practices are getting squeezed from all sides and are finding it difficult to stay financially solvent.

To respond to the growing demand in cancer services that the existing cancer center was experiencing, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center is expanding its comprehensive cancer center to help patients cope with the daunting challenges of cancer diagnosis and treatment.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalized physician payment rates and policies for 2014.

After a period of relative stability from 1991 to 2004, oncology practices can expect a continued drop in drug revenue in 2014, according to findings of the National Practice Benchmark (NBP) issued by Oncology Metrics.

The American College of Radiology (ACR) has issued new and updated evidence-based guidelines to assist oncologists when ordering exams and ensure that patients get the correct scan or therapy for the right indication.

The hematology-oncology division of an academic health center participated in a pilot physician compensation exercise using variable compensation incentives with group-specific targets based on prior below-average performance.

Final results from the first stage of the phase II portion of the phase I/II CLN-14 clinical trial analyzing belinostat (PXD101) in combination with doxorubicin in patients with soft tissue sarcomas (STS) demonstrated that the novel agent could provide benefit in this space

A new consortium of payers, clinicians, patients, and pharmaceutical companies are developing recommendations to help generate evidence-based guidelines to define coverage and develop payment decisions for treating cancer.

Marcia Brose, MD, sat down with OncLive at the Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium in New York City to discuss recent advances in the treatment of thyroid cancer.

Two large cohort studies, suggest that the costly scan is being overused in women who won't benefit from it and underused in women who could gain benefit from it.