Value Peer-spectives

Approximately 77,000 healthcare providers have already registered by July of this year with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for the electronic health records (EHRs) program.

Evidence-based medicine and a focused clinical orientation are key elements to delivering the right care at the right time to the right person. The recent findings reported at the 2011 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting regarding the use of novel therapies and strategies in the treatment of non–small-cell lung cancer make achieving these goals harder than ever.

Widespread adoption of information technology (IT) is now regarded as a pathway to improving healthcare and achieving the highly regarded goals for redesigning care.

The management of complex oncology drugs in pharmacy and in medical benefits presents unique challenges for all parties who seek cost-effective, positive clinical outcomes for patients with cancer. New therapies are offering the exciting prospect of improved outcomes, prolonged life, and, in some cases, a cure for specific diseases.

The estimated cost for physician practices to interact with health insurance plans is $23 billion to $31 billion annually, according to a 2009 national survey conducted by Casalino and colleagues (Health Aff. 2009;28:w533-w543).

New understanding of the mechanism of cancer as genetic and molecular cancer–causing lesions has enabled the development of targeted therapies that are producing excellent results in early clinical trials.

The Florida Comprehensive Care Network (FCCN), a statewide network of medical and radiation oncologists providing comprehensive, evidence-based care to patients with cancer, has signed an agreement with ITA Partners that allows FCCN to use ITA’s oncology decision-support platform (called eviti) across its network of oncologists.

A new report published in March in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (2011;103:714-736) shows slow but consistent reductions in some cancer types in men and women between 2003 and 2007, the most recent years for which data are available.

Researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY, identified 2 regulatory molecules that enable a tumor, which originally is usually not deadly, to metastasize.

A survey of 61 patients with cancer suggests that many patients are willing to undergo extra tests to participate in clinical trials that will give them access to experimental cancer treatments that may offer improved outcomes and potentially increased survival options.