Tony Hagen

Articles

IBM's Watson Gains Commercial Acceptance in US

February 15th 2017

Watson for Oncology, the IBM "cognitive" computer tool for helping with clinical decisions, is making its debut this month at Jupiter Medical Center in Florida as a regular member of the armamentarium for fighting cancer, as opposed to being a prospective product on trial.

Soaring Drug Prices Bring New Challenges

February 11th 2017

Not only are drug prices soaring with the arrival of many new therapies, but competition for the drug dispensing and drug infusion business is on the rise, Jeff Liticker, PharmD, of UT Southwestern Medical said in a recent talk about oncology drug issues sponsored by the Association of Community Cancer Centers.

Pharmacy Benefit Manager Back-end Fees Rise $13 Billion in 3 Years

February 2nd 2017

A new trend in the way pharmacy benefit managers are collecting fees from pharmacy providers is driving up drug costs, gouging point-of-sale pharmacy operations, and playing havoc with spending at CMS, according to reports from CMS and the Community Oncology Alliance.

Immuno-Oncology Will Require Extensive Staff Training

January 30th 2017

Immuno-oncology drugs have the potential to improve the level of care in many respects, but they bring with them a host of problems related to implementation that require a completely new set of strategies.

Who Is at the Controls of 340B?

January 29th 2017

The 340B Drug Pricing Program, designed to provide support for out-patient drug purchases, severely lacks federal oversight, said BRG Healthcare, the business advisory group, in a report sponsored by the Alliance for Integrity and Reform of 340B (AIR340B).

COA Takes Aim at PBMs in 2017

January 19th 2017

The Community Oncology Alliance got most of its 2016 Christmas list. CVS Caremark dropped its plan to cut physician-owned dispensaries out of Medicare Part D oral drug distribution, CMS eased off the gas pedal on the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, and the Medicare Part B Drug Payment Model has been discontinued for now.

Solutions Start to Emerge for Cumbersome EHR Reporting

January 14th 2017

Cota, a New York-based precision informatics company, has developed what it says will be a significant aid for oncology practices working to conform to the expectations of CMS’s Oncology Care Model, which is designed to encourage physicians to strive for better patient outcomes and lower costs.

For Independent Oncology Practices, Storm Clouds Came and Went in 2016

December 30th 2016

For independent oncology practices, 2016 was a year of struggle—struggle to achieve new levels of reporting to CMS, and struggle to improve interaction with patients and coordination of care.

Startups See Gold in Heaps of Patient Data

December 28th 2016

Boston-based Berg Health is attempting to do away with a traditional form of scientific inquiry in an attempt to find better answers.

Behind the Scenes, Value Is a Struggle

December 17th 2016

Delivering patient-centered care is not an easy task in an increasingly complex environment, participants at the 4th Annual Institute for the Future of Oncology concluded at the June meeting.

New Breed of Denials Is a Test of Fortitude

December 17th 2016

Many things are happening with payer practices as a result of the plethora of new immuno-oncology agents.

Coroner's Report: Part B Payment Model Is Dead

December 17th 2016

CMS and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) have confirmed the demise of the Medicare Part B Drug Payment Model "experiment" to cut margins paid to physicians on some of the most expensive drugs and introduce private sector thinking into drug purchasing and pricing systems.

ABIM Will Offer 2-Year "Knowledge Check-in" Test for MOC

December 16th 2016

After 2 years of reflecting on feedback from the medical community, the American Board of Internal Medicine has developed a new iteration of its Maintenance of Certification testing that it hopes will satisfy the needs of physicians.

MSKCC Collaborates With Hackensack Meridian Health in Precision Medicine

December 15th 2016

To great fanfare, Hackensack Meridian Health of New Jersey and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center announced a co-branding partnership that they say would lead to highly fruitful collaborative research and make hundreds of clinical trial opportunities available to their patients.

IBM's Watson Achieves High Concordance in Tumor Board Test

December 10th 2016

The artificial intelligence computer program Watson for Oncology (WFO) achieved a high degree of concordance with tumor board recommendations in a double-blinded validation study in Bengaluru, India, according to results presented at the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS).

FDA Approves Bevacizumab for Platinum-Sensitive Ovarian Cancer

December 7th 2016

Bevacizumab has been granted FDA approval for platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer, based on findings from phase III trails: GOG-0213 and OCEANS.

Longer Hours Were Too Much for Them

November 28th 2016

Staff attrition generally does not come in the size and shape it did for a small New England practice that constitutes the last independent oncology practice in Maine.

Ohio Urologists Hit by Overseas Hackers

November 25th 2016

If any doubts remained that oncology practices were not going to be specific targets in the hacking of medical data, a breach at Central Ohio Urology Group has set the record straight.

A Linear Accelerator Room With a View

November 25th 2016

For years, linear accelerator technology has had to be encased in concrete walls 3 to 4 feet thick so as to protect people on the outside from exposure to radiation.

COA Declares Early Victory in CMS Part B Payment Battle

November 24th 2016

The change of administrations in Washington, DC may undermine the future of a proposal to revise Medicare Part B drug compensation, a plan that has been widely criticized in the oncological community because of the potential reduction in profit margins it entails.