Policies & Guidelines

Aggressive end-of-life care for patients with terminal cancer and other illnesses is costly and not recommended. ASCO recommends that patients with terminal cancer should receive palliative care rather than interventions that do not prolong life but do add to suffering.
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In her presidential address, Julie M. Vose, MD, MBA, Chief of the Oncology/Hematology Division, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, highlighted the importance of multimodal care and its effect on the quality of care and enhancement of clinical trial participation among patients with cancer.
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On April 25, 2016, an FDA advisory committee voted not to recommend the approval of eteplirsen, an experimental drug that targets one of many genetic mutations causing Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a deadly degenerative disease that has no cure. After agreeing to study the real-world effects of eteplir­sen, the FDA advisory committee rejected findings that patients who have been taking eteplirsen since 2011 were still able to walk because the clinical data did not meet the FDA requirements for a well-controlled study.
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The Individual Patient Expanded Access Application, which is designed to streamline the application procedure for individual patients who apply for expanded access to investigational therapeutics, including expanded access to drugs that are not in clinical trials, was recently updated by the FDA. Form FDA 3926 authorizes expanded access to investigational drugs for patients with serious or life-threatening conditions who have no therapeutic options.
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Opposition to proposed changes to the Medicare Part B payment for prescription drugs continues to grow since the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced its plan in March 2016.
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A new payment and delivery model introduced by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation aims to align financial incentives to improve oncology care and outcomes. Expected to begin in July 2016, the program will target patients from the start of their chemotherapy through 6 months of care.
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Linking physicians and patients is a major undertaking, but given the ubiquity of smartphone technology and the rise in app development, the healthcare industry is poised to leverage advances in communication and information exchange. At the 2016 Cancer Survivorship Symposium, Steven J. Katz, MD, MPH, Professor of Medicine and Health Management and Policy, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, discussed the use of deliberation systems to enhance communication with survivors and their care.
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“When we talk about multidisciplinary cancer care teams, I think it is important to discuss MDT [multidisciplinary team] clinical decision-making,” said Dr Jacobs. “How does the team really work together?”
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Secondary pathology review can significantly improve clinical outcomes through precise and accurate pathology diagnoses, according to Lavinia P. Middleton, MD, Professor, Department of Pathology, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX.
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Web-based reporting in the outpatient community setting is not only feasible, but it can identify areas that need quality improvement initiatives, according to J. Russell Hoverman, MD, PhD, Vice President of Quality Programs, Texas Oncology, PA, Dallas.
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