Articles

San Francisco, CA—The expression “a picture is worth a thousand words” is certainly true when it comes to figures from a new literature review of prostate cancer (PCa) treatments.

Hollywood, FL—As specialty pharmacy (SP) expands rapidly into oncology, there is a need to better define its role. This was the aim of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Task Force on Specialty Pharmacy, whose chair presented the group’s preliminary report at the 15th Annual NCCN Conference.

At the most basic level, compendia are drug information resources intended to aid clinicians in making “informed treatment decisions, especially in difficult and complex cases.”¹ They were not intended for use in determining reimbursement of medications for the public and private healthcare insurance sectors. Nevertheless, this responsibility was assigned by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in a 1993 law that requires Medicare plans to use 1 of 4 national compendia to determine coverage and pay for “off-label uses of anticancer drugs for Medicare beneficiaries.”

New Orleans, LA—As reimbursement for services continues to decline, oncology pharmacists must be proactive and develop a strategy to minimize losses, said Steven L. D’Amato, RPh, a clinical pharmacy specialist with the Maine Center for Cancer Medicine, Scarborough, Me, at a presentation at the annual meeting of the Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association (HOPA).

New Orleans, LA—The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, ie, “health care reform,” was recently passed, but oncologists and those who pay for their services are still wondering what’s in store for them.

As payers focus on the rising cancer care spend, they are turning to tools previously applied to other diseases. Each seems to have potential, but upon closer review, these have fundamental shortcomings when used for cancer.

Baltimore, MD—The preliminary results of a 2009 survey on cancer care trends among community hospital cancer centers indicates the growing impact of the recession, with data showing a greater inability of patients to pay for cancer care and a freezing of plans to purchase new equipment.

Baltimore, MD—Comparative effectiveness research (CER) is at the forefront of new cost-control efforts, according to experts speaking at a panel discussion at the Asso ciation of Community Cancer Centers’ (ACCC) 36th Annual National Meeting.

Baltimore, MD—Although majortechnological advances continue in the diagnostic imaging arena, heightenedconcern over radiation overdoses,steep prices for equipment, andquestions about whether the newtechnologies will be reimbursed posechallenges for the field.

Baltimore, MD—In light of ongoing discussions on healthcare and its reform in the United States, an examination of how care is financed and delivered in other parts of the world could provide a useful contrast for our own national deliberations.