Practice Management

Oncology Practice Management, Navigation, & Advocacy Day Abstracts from the 4th Annual AVBCC Conference.

Innovation in Practice Management Abstract from the 4th Annual AVBCC Conference.

New Orleans, LA—“Patient engagement” is a healthcare buzz phrase, and a critical part of this concept is patient connectivity to information technology (IT). GetWellNetwork is a patient-focused IT system that aims to empower the patient to improve outcomes in a variety of disease states.

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act has set aside $19 billion in incentives to encourage healthcare providers to adopt and meaningfully use electronic medical record (EMR) technology in an effort to provide more patient-centered care.

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 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).

Setting up a statewide cancer pathway program requires sophisticated data collection and analytic capability, as well as a collaborative mindset among participants, according to Kurt Neumann, MD, Medical Director of Managed Care and Quality Initiatives for the International Oncology Network, a division of Amerisource Bergen Specialty Group.

Consolidation and cost pressures remain key concerns for community cancer centers, according to Christian Downs, MHA, JD, the executive director of the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC).

As health plans grapple with the rapidly rising cost of oncology medications and a “buy and bill” system that does not work for physicians or for the plans, they are seeking new strategies for providing these life-saving drugs to their members and for freeing up oncology and hematology practices to focus solely on caring for patients, not managing a pharmacy.