WASHINGTON, June 25, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today,
the National Comprehensive Cancer Network®
(NCCN®)'s Oncology Policy Program hosted a summit
focused on pragmatic approaches for providing the highest quality
cancer care possible in the face of changing laws and technology.
The program, "Policy Strategies for the "New Normal" in Health
Care to Ensure Access to High Quality Cancer Care," took
place at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, and included diverse
perspectives from clinicians, lawmakers, patient advocates, and
others. FDA Commissioner Scott
Gottlieb, MD, provided the opening keynote address.
Congressmen Mark DeSaulnier
(D-CA) and Ted Poe (R-TX),
co-chairs of the Congressional Cancer Survivors Caucus, offered
their perspectives as lawmakers.
"Our hope is that everyone comes away from this summit with a
fuller understanding of some of the complex issues involved in
delivering the best cancer care possible to the largest number of
people," said Robert W. Carlson,
MD, Chief Executive Officer, NCCN. "At NCCN, we create
opportunities for speakers with varying viewpoints to have a
face-to-face conversation about patient access to high quality
cancer care. By including speakers with diverse perspectives, we
can explore how policy and practice need to evolve in order to
provide everyone with access to safe, effective cancer care."
One key topic of conversation throughout the summit was the role
patients and caregivers have in determining their own most valuable
path, and how best to equip them for it.
"Empowered, knowledgeable patients and families are our best
defense against shoddy cancer care," said Joseph Alvarnas, MD, City of Hope
Comprehensive Cancer Center. "We have a responsibility to
educate patients and families who are in search of high quality
care, as to what constitutes true quality in relation to their
cancer journey."
Survivor, Health Advocate, and Consultant Stefanie Joho agreed. "Physicians and
patients need to be partners — effective communication between them
is key," she said. Joho also pointed out that people with cancer
aren't the only ones in need of education, particularly when
confronted with new treatment methods. "Cutting edge therapies
require the constant advancement of continuing education for
oncologists."
Stephanie Farnia, MPH,
The American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation,
offered some of their 'lessons learned' on provider perspectives
from the launch of CAR T-cell therapy, namely, "The Medicare
inpatient reimbursement system, in its current form, is not set up
well to deal with these leaps in technology and associated high
price points. New treatments that launch without a complete
reimbursement and coding plan will face a lag in uptake by
providers. Therefore, companies need to understand — and work to
remedy — the financial pressure the high price of innovations can
put on providers."
Speakers and panelists throughout the summit also emphasized the
importance of clinical trial participation.
"Recent advances in cancer care have been driven by the
identification of targetable mutations, harnessing the immune
system's ability to fight cancer, and improved symptom management,"
explained Pavan Reddy, MD, Kansas Society of Clinical
Oncology, Cancer Center of Kansas. "These advances were fueled by
drug development and testing through clinical trials. It is
essential to encourage patient participation in these trials, in
order to deliver high quality and personalized cancer care while
continuing to advance the science."
Joho agreed, stating "Clinical trials must be
destigmatized."
"Innovations in the oncology space have been accelerating in
recent years," said NCCN's Director of Policy, Alyssa Schatz, MSW. "It's exciting, but it
also requires constant adaptation."
Schatz explained that the past decade has also seen numerous
changes to health care policy and payment models, from the shifting
of authority away from the federal government toward individual
states, as well as the move from fee-for-service payment models
toward value-based models of care.
During the summit, NCCN debuted results from a survey of
NCI-designated cancer centers regarding their experience with
exchange marketplace coverage plans, conducted from December 2017 through January 2018 by Avalere Health. Out of the 29
responding centers across 21 states plus Washington, DC, 25 were only in network for
some, not all of the ACA exchange plans available in their state.
Two more were excluded from all of their state's exchanges. The
percentage of centers that were excluded despite attempting to be
in network rose slightly from 2017 to 2018.
"This tells us that we have to be concerned with consumer
education efforts in order to make sure people who purchase plans
on an exchange fully understand any limitations when they sign up,"
said Schatz. "If people opt for lower premiums, they need to be
made aware if that could restrict where they're eligible to be
treated, or lead to higher out-of-pocket costs in the future."
The panel discussions were moderated by Clifford Goodman, PhD, The Lewin
Group, and also included input from:
- Joseph Antos, PhD,
American Enterprise Institute
- Jennifer Carlson, The
Ohio State University Wexner Medical
Center
- John Cox, DO, Parkland
Health and Hospital System, UT Southwestern
- Elizabeth Franklin, LGSW,
ACSW, Cancer Support Community
- Anna Griffin, Kite, A
Gilead Company
- Meghan Gutierrez,
Lymphoma Research Foundation
- Caron A. Jacobson, MD,
Dana Farber Cancer Institute/Brigham and Women's
Hospital
- Ron Kline, MD, FAAP,
Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI)
- Kavita Patel, MD,
Brookings Institute
- Michael Ybarra, MD,
PhRMA.
NCCN's next policy summit, "Policy Challenges and Opportunities
to Address Changing Paradigms in Cancer Care Delivery," will take
place on September 13th,
at the National Press Club. Then on December
10th, the organization will host a Patient
Advocacy Summit to address "Advocating for Equity in Cancer Care."
Visit NCCN.org/policy for more information, and join the
conversation online with the hashtag #NCCNPolicy.
About the National Comprehensive Cancer Network
The
National Comprehensive Cancer Network®
(NCCN®), a not-for-profit alliance of 27 leading cancer
centers devoted to patient care, research, and education, is
dedicated to improving the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency
of cancer care so that patients can live better lives. Through the
leadership and expertise of clinical professionals at NCCN Member
Institutions, NCCN develops resources that present valuable
information to the numerous stakeholders in the health care
delivery system. As the arbiter of high-quality cancer care, NCCN
promotes the importance of continuous quality improvement and
recognizes the significance of creating clinical practice
guidelines appropriate for use by patients, clinicians, and other
health care decision-makers.
The NCCN Member Institutions are: Fred & Pamela Buffett
Cancer Center, Omaha, NE; Case
Comprehensive Cancer Center/University Hospitals Seidman Cancer
Center and Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute, Cleveland, OH; City of Hope Comprehensive
Cancer Center, Los Angeles, CA;
Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center |
Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, MA; Duke Cancer Institute,
Durham, NC; Fox Chase Cancer
Center, Philadelphia, PA; Huntsman
Cancer Institute at the University of
Utah, Salt Lake City, UT;
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/Seattle Cancer Care
Alliance, Seattle, WA; The Sidney
Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns
Hopkins, Baltimore, MD;
Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, IL; Mayo Clinic Cancer Center,
Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ, Jacksonville, FL, and Rochester, MN; Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer
Center, New York, NY; Moffitt
Cancer Center, Tampa, FL; The
Ohio State University Comprehensive
Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research
Institute, Columbus, OH; Roswell
Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY; Siteman Cancer Center at
Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington
University School of Medicine, St.
Louis, MO; St. Jude Children's Research Hospital/The
University of Tennessee Health Science
Center, Memphis, TN; Stanford
Cancer Institute, Stanford, CA;
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Comprehensive Cancer Center, Birmingham,
AL; UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, La Jolla, CA; UCSF Helen Diller Family
Comprehensive Cancer Center, San
Francisco, CA; University of
Colorado Cancer Center, Aurora,
CO; University of Michigan Rogel
Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI; The
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer
Center, Houston, TX; University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center,
Madison, WI; Vanderbilt-Ingram
Cancer Center, Nashville, TN; and
Yale Cancer Center/Smilow Cancer Hospital, New Haven, CT.
Clinicians, visit NCCN.org. Patients and caregivers, visit
NCCN.org/patients. Media, visit NCCN.org/news. Follow NCCN on
Twitter @NCCNnews and Facebook
@National.Comprehensive.Cancer.Network.
Media Contact:
Rachel
Darwin
267-622-6624
darwin@nccn.org
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SOURCE National Comprehensive Cancer Network