VBCC PERSPECTIVES

Can Value-Based Cancer Care Address the Challenges Faced by Specialty Pharmacies in Oncology?

 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.

The Promise of Molecular Profiling

A conversation with Al B. Benson, III, MD, FACP
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.

Clinical and Economic Impact of Multiple Myeloma

Exciting results in a condition with no cure
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.

The New Era of Personalized Medicine in Oncology: Novel Biomarkers Ushering in New Approaches to Cancer Therapy

 It is next to impossible for a day to go by without thinking about the contributions of personalized medicine to the care of patients living with cancer. Whether we are treating a newly diagnosed patient with HER2/neu-positive breast cancer using trastuzumab, or using erlotinib in the management of a patient with NSCLC whose tumor harbors specific mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor genes, individualizing therapy based on molecular biology and genetic testing has become commonplace in contemporary oncology practice.

The Challenge of Value-Based Care in Oncology: Improving Clinical Outcomes

Interview with Matthew Mitchell, PharmD, MBA, Manager, Pharmacy Services, SelectHealth, Salt Lake City, UT
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. In this interview, Value-Based Cancer Care asked Dr Mitchell to elaborate on the way his plan, SelectHealth, approaches this critical issue in cancer care and the potential implications to payers and providers.