Reimagining the Future of Cancer Care in the New Normal: Positive Learning Lessons in a Post–COVID-19 World

Conference Correspondent

During the November 16 session of the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care (AVBCC) 10th Annual Summit, Ron DiGiaimo, MBA, FACHE, Chairman of the Board, Revenue Cycle Coding Strategies/The Oncology Group and RC Billing, moderated a panel of experts who discussed takeaways from the COVID-19 pandemic and the future of cancer care.

During the first few months of the pandemic, many physicians chose to defer their nonacute patients to reduce the possibility of COVID-19 exposure. Kathy Oubre, MS, Chief Operations Officer of Pontchartrain Cancer Center, had difficulty securing appointments for acute patients for scans and laboratory work during this time because these patients were considered nonemergent in those offices.

Ms Oubre and other members of the panel also discussed some of the disparities in healthcare that have become more evident during the pandemic.

“About half of our patients either don’t have a smartphone or broadband, so that’s a large disparity and something we’ll have to look at in the future of telehealth,” said Jeffrey Patton, MD, CEO of OneOncology and Executive Chairman of the Board at Tennessee Oncology.

Roberta Buell, MBA, Principal for Provider Services and Reimbursement Information at onPoint Oncology, Inc, said the outdated rules surrounding telehealth cause a large barrier in reimbursement. Because of the public health emergency, the rules have been updated so that physicians are paid for telehealth services at the same rate as in-person office visits. Typically, a telehealth visit would be paid out as a facility fee, which is much less than an office visit.

The panelists took a deep dive into preauthorizations, approvals, and the time it takes to go through these processes. Carla Balch, AA, BPS, MS, CEO and Founder of Spesana, believes we should be pressing technology vendors to make an impact and increase the use of electronic prior authorization.

Gain access to these in-depth, expert views on the future of value-based analytics in oncology practices when you register for the AVBCC Summit!

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