April 2014

We have been asked on numerous occasions why would almost 100 oncologists "give up their independence and identity in their community" and become part of Regional Cancer Care Associates (RCCA), a new entity with a single tax identification number?

Peter B. Bach, MD, MAPP, discussed at a conference recently hosted by The American Journal of Managed Care how new payment models are challenging the current fee-for-service model for community care cancer centers.

Community oncology practices are at a crossroads despite the maturity of the marketplace. Running an efficient oncology practice is getting tougher and tougher.

For oncology practices today, the keys to negotiating successful contracts are size and a willingness to contain costs while improving quality.

Despite repeated attempts to pass a permanent fix to address Medicare's sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula, efforts by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have stalled again.

The current state of affairs in oncology care reimbursement is in flux, with the promise for dramatic change. It is hoped that change will foster value-based oncology care delivery, avoid the need to ration care indiscriminately, and allow for continued discovery and advancement. Good luck!

Cancer is challenging in many ways. Trying to contain the costs of disease management may be the biggest challenge of all.

A physician's confidence level in his genomic knowledge plays a significant role in attitudes towards genomic tests, especially in tests that look for changes in DNA that are taken from patients' tumor samples