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February 2011, Vol 2, No 1 - Meeting Highlights
More than 4300 abstracts were accepted for the 2010 annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH). As always, there were numerous presentations that enhanced our understanding of hematologic malignancies and contributed to improving current treatment approaches. Several important [ Read More ]
February 2011, Vol 2, No 1 - Meeting Highlights
Orlando, FL—A study designed to compare 2 years of rituximab (Rituxan) therapy versus watchful waiting in patients with asymptomatic, advanced stage follicular lymphoma showed that maintenance therapy delayed the need for chemotherapy and other therapies by up to 3 years. [ Read More ]
March 2013, Vol 4, No 3 - From the Editor
Value Based Cancer Care (VBCC) was first published in May 2010, and the first annual meeting of the Association of Value-Based Cancer Care took place in May 2011. During the past 3.5 years, this publication and its annual meeting have provided a forum for stakeholders to address important issues that impact the value proposition facing patients with cancer, providers, and payers in an open and challenging fashion. Both the annual meeting and VBCC have focused on a dialogue around strategies for optimizing value in cancer care delivery.
[ Read More ]June 2013, Vol 4, No 5 - From the Editor
Chief Medical Officer, Oncology Resource Networks, and Editor-In-Chief, Value-Based Cancer Care
With the Third Annual Conference of the Association for Value-Based Cancer Care (AVBCC) held in May in Florida and the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology concluding in June in Chicago, it is tempting to consider which of the many presentations, abstracts, and reports were most impactful or will have the greatest influence on how oncologists think about, diagnose, and treat patients with cancer.
[ Read More ]July 2013, Vol 4, No 6 - From the Editor
Chief Medical Officer, Oncology Resource Networks, and Editor-in-Chief, Value-Based Cancer Care
The past several years have seen significant consolidation in the healthcare industry. The cost of healthcare in the United States is currently estimated to be 18% of the gross domestic product (GDP), and the costs are projected to increase disproportionately to the GDP during the next decade.1 Healthcare reform has accelerated consolidation and will likely continue to drive consolidation in many markets across the country.
[ Read More ]September 2013, Vol 4, No 7 - From the Editor
Just this month, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published a report titled “Delivering High-Quality Cancer Care: Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis.”1 This consensus report convened a committee of experts to examine the quality of cancer care in the United States and formulate recommendations for its improvement. The committee came to a number of conclusions and made 10 recommendations for the purpose of improving what it described as a system in “crisis,” which is associated with rising costs and growing demand.
[ Read More ]October 2013, Vol 4, No 8 - From the Editor
On September 10, 2013, the Institute of Medicine (IOM), part of the National Academy of Sciences, published a 315-page report, titled “Delivering High-Quality Cancer Care: Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis”. [ Read More ]
November 2013, Vol 4, No 9 - From the Editor
The recent Institute of Medicine report “Delivering High-Quality Cancer Care: Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis” addressed the important issues of delivering high-quality cancer care, including end-of-life care.1 Given that for many patients cancer can be a terminal illness, the cost of end-of-life care in oncology has recently been a significant focus for public and private payers.
[ Read More ]February 2014, Vol 5, No 1 - From the Editor
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been a major topic in the news of late. In addition to providing better healthcare and allowing the uninsured to obtain affordable insurance coverage, the ACA has provided funding for outcomes research and healthcare innovation. [ Read More ]
March 2014, Vol 5, No 2 - From the Editor
At the end of February, I had the opportunity to attend the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS)14 Annual Conference, which was held in Orlando, FL. Attended by more than 30,000 committed vendors, healthcare administrators, providers, politicians, scientists, and others, the meeting provided a great deal of insight into the health information community’s past accomplishments, the present state of the art, and expectations for the future. [ Read More ]
May 2014, Vol 5, No 4 - From the Editor
Defining and improving quality and outcomes in the care of patients with cancer is difficult, so it is interesting that we are now having a dialogue regarding the potential for a two-tiered healthcare system. Can we really define second-class cancer care if we have difficulty grading, measuring, identifying, or even defining first-class cancer care? [ Read More ]
June 2014, Vol 5, No 5 - From the Editor
May was a busy month for those who have made a commitment to addressing cost, quality, and value in cancer care. The Association for Value-Based Cancer Care (AVBCC) held its Fourth Annual Conference in Los Angeles, CA. [ Read More ]
August 2014, Vol 5, No 6 - From the Editor
The 340B Drug Pricing Program was a result of Public Law 102-585, the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992, which was codified as Section 340B of the Public Health Service Act. [ Read More ]