Economics & Value

New York, NY—Supportive care is effective in improving outcomes, but the growth of supportive care programs is hampered by economics, explained Eduardo Bruera, MD, Chair, Palliative Care & Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, speaking at the 2012 Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer International Symposium.

Specialty pharmacies are facing specific challenges in the ways they interact with payers, providers, and even with the pharmaceutical industry in relation to access and delivery of cancer drugs.

At the 2012 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, Value-Based Cancer Care (VBCC) asked Al B. Benson, III, MD, FACP, Professor of Medicine, Associate Director for Clinical Investigations, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Immediate Past President, ACCC, and editorial board member of VBCC, to discuss the growing importance of molecular profiling in cancer care.

The clinical and economic impact of multiple myeloma is tremendous. With the onset of novel therapies used in multiple myeloma, as well as the release of new data demonstrating progression-free survival and overall survival, therapy used in multiple myeloma is now on the radar for payers, despite the relatively low incidence of the disease.

An analysis of payer and provider responses to key clinical information presented at the ASCO 2011 annual meeting offers a glimpse of the oncology landscape shared by oncologists and health plans.

Changes in oncology reimbursement have driven the consolidation of community oncology practices, as more of these practices are being squeezed financially, according to Ted Okon, BS, MBA, Executive Director, Community Oncology Alliance. Consoli dation decreases alternatives, and that means reduced competition, as many oncologists lose their practices.

Philadelphia, PA—The “one-size-fitsall” approach to current benefit designs does not recognize that health services have different levels of value; such an approach, therefore, lacks incentives for patients to adhere to diagnostic tests and treatments with proven effectiveness that may help to contain costs to various healthcare stakeholders.

The focus on value in patient care has taken a prominent place in any discussion related to improving care delivery, but no agreement exists on what that “value” is.