Oncology Business Management | Specialty

The OncLive Oncology Business Management condition center page is a comprehensive resource for news and expert insights on business-focused updates and topics in oncology practices, including diversity efforts, telehealth, gaps in care, payment models, and more. This page features news articles, interviews in written and video format, and podcasts that focus on updates and best practices with oncology business management.

Conditions Are Better for Women in Oncology But More Work Needs to Be Done

November 29th 2019

Despite the strides made by women over the past 170 years, significant disparities remain, especially in academic medicine.

Healthcare "Hot-Spotting" Generates Big Savings in Oncology

November 28th 2019

Focusing on the needs of patients with cancer who were likely to be “superutilizers” of healthcare resources resulted in lower costs, fewer hospital admissions, and higher patient satisfaction scores for Crystal Run Healthcare.

OCM Participants Consider Costs of 2-Sided Risk

November 25th 2019

After 3 years of struggling to meet targets for improved care quality and cost efficiency, many of the 175 practices that have remained in the Oncology Care Model of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have a decision to make: Assume a share of the downside risk for failure to meet financial targets or exit the OCM by December 3.

A Society That Worries About Risks Should Consider Cancer Prevention

November 23rd 2019

When discussing the topic of vaccination to prevent serious childhood illness, an increasing number of individuals refuse to accept the unequivocally demonstrated value of this public health strategy despite the very low risk of harm.

Guardrails Keep Oncology Waste Management on the Right Track

November 16th 2019

A large proportion of medical waste in oncology is considered hazardous and must be disposed of correctly.

Wearable Health Tech Faces Hurdles in Oncology

November 15th 2019

Although use of wearable mobile health monitors has soared in other fields of healthcare, adoption of these electronic devices has lagged in oncology.

Cancer Research Versus Care: Just How Different Are the Goals?

November 13th 2019

The often intense and frequently highly focused effort to seek scientific purity in answering questions within cancer clinical trials raises serious concerns regarding the ethical foundation of certain studies.

Association of Community Cancer Centers Presents David King Community Clinical Scientist Award to Paul D. Hansen, MD, FACS

November 8th 2019

The ACCC David King Community Clinical Scientist Award was awarded to Paul D. Hansen, MD, FACS, a pioneering leader in research on minimally invasive approaches to major liver and pancreas surgery and the promise these techniques hold for improving the quality of care, the patient experience, and potentially reducing healthcare costs.

CMS Proposes a Next-Generation Oncology Care Model

November 4th 2019

With just 2 more years to go in the Oncology Care Model, CMS is proposing a next-generation payment system that would include more private payers and hold practices more accountable for quality and costs of care.

President Trump Nominates Oncologist Stephen Hahn to Head FDA

November 1st 2019

President Donald Trump is nominating Stephen M. Hahn, MD, FASTRO, as the next commissioner of the FDA.

Radiation Oncology Model Will Not Satisfy Need for Payment Reform

October 31st 2019

In July 2019, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid proposed the Radiation Oncology Model, an important step forward in allowing the nation’s 4500 radiation oncologists to join in the transition to value-based healthcare.

Can New Oncology Payment Programs Help Stabilize Medicare?

October 30th 2019

Studies have raised doubts about the value Medicare and other payers are getting for the care they pay for, including in oncology. This has intensified the demand for new value-based care models such as the Merit-based Incentive Payment System and the Oncology Care Model.

Tips for Talking With Patients: "Mother Question" and Sleep Test

October 30th 2019

Certain themes and questions about individualized, scientifically unanswerable dilemmas often recur when talking with patients and families about treatment.

Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb Will Offer Insights at Upcoming Oncology Conferences

October 18th 2019

In an interview with OncologyLive®, Scott Gottlieb, MD, shared his insights on developments in the oncology arena.

IBM Seeks Niche for Watson for Oncology

October 15th 2019

The artificial intelligence system that IBM designed for oncology has demonstrated clinical utility in recent studies, generating excitement that the technology may have a role as a decision support tool.

Innovative Center Focuses on Phase I Trials

October 15th 2019

A partnership between a healthcare system in Morristown, New Jersey, and a genomics research institute in Phoenix, Arizona, has led to the opening of a center dedicated to offering phase I cancer trials in community settings and improving access for patients with limited coverage.

End-of-Life Treatment Has Important Nuances

October 13th 2019

Even if a disease is diagnosed as “incurable,” or progression to a state of incurability subsequently develops, the time between diagnosis and death is being prolonged and the quality of life improved with novel oncologic interventions, such that continued therapeutic efforts are justified.

New ASCO System Confronts Lack of EHR Interoperability

October 3rd 2019

With the recent launch of a free, open-source system for standardizing the electronic storage of patient records, the American Society of Clinical Oncology hopes to improve information flow across electronic health record platforms and curtail the harms of information blocking by private aggregators and vendors of patient information.

CFS&reg Experts: Novel Therapies and Onco-Genomics Add Heft to Precision Medicine

October 2nd 2019

Co-chairs William K. Oh, MD, Adam M. Brufsky, MD, PhD, and Benjamin P. Levy, MD, preview key topics that will be covered at the 37th Annual CFS®: Innovative Cancer Therapy for Tomorrow symposium.

Informed Consent Means Patients Should Be Informed

October 1st 2019

There is no more important principle in the conduct of legitimate therapeutic investigation than ensuring the adequacy of informed consent of the prospective clinical trial participant.