Linda Frisk, PharmD, of Arizona Oncology, discusses the role of the pharmacist in new value-based payment models and her experience with the Oncology Care Model (OCM).
Linda Frisk, PharmD, of Arizona Oncology, discusses the role of the pharmacist in new value-based payment models and her experience with the Oncology Care Model (OCM).
What is the role of the oncology pharmacist in new value-based payment models?
I am part of the OCM, so cost of care is important to us, and managing our patients, preventing those side effects from getting worse, interacting with the physician, making sure that what we’re dispensing is the right medicine, the right dose, not auto-filling but checking with the physician, is going to reduce cost of care. It’s going to reduce emergency department visits. It’s going to reduce hospitalization. It’s going to make sure that we don’t dispense a medication that the patient can’t use.
What have been some of the biggest challenges you've had in implementing the Oncology Care Model?
In implementing OCM, there was a lot of a ramp up phase. Oral medications is probably the hardest part, because they don’t all come through us, so it’s a lot of phone calling to patients, to specialty pharmacies, to find out just the basic information that we need to get them enrolled, to get their care plan billed, and to find out where they’re at in their therapy. It would be much easier my sites, because they’re right in the clinics, could dispense the medications, but we know that because of insurance and [pharmacy benefit managers] and things like that, that we can’t dispense all of them. That makes it difficult.
What role does the pharmacist play in implementing clinical pathways?
I’m part of US Oncology McKesson, and we have the value pathways by [National Comprehensive Cancer Network], and they are integrated into our [electronic medical record], so every time that the physicians order a new regimen, they do go through our pathways. And if they don’t follow the pathways, then they have to give a reason why. So, we are very much integrated into that system.
ATS 2024: Bridging the Past, Present, and Future of Respiratory Care
May 16th 2024The application of artificial intelligence in medicine is anticipated as a highlight of ATS 2024, with sessions exploring its applications in research, radiological interpretation, and pediatric pulmonology.
Read More
Examining Low-Value Cancer Care Trends Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic
April 25th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the April 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on the rates of low-value cancer care services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Listen
Oncology Onward: A Conversation With Penn Medicine's Dr Justin Bekelman
December 19th 2023Justin Bekelman, MD, director of the Penn Center for Cancer Care Innovation, sat with our hosts Emeline Aviki, MD, MBA, and Stephen Schleicher, MD, MBA, for our final episode of 2023 to discuss the importance of collaboration between academic medicine and community oncology and testing innovative cancer care delivery in these settings.
Listen
Posters Characterize DMD Caregiver Experiences, Impact of Gene Therapy on Caregiving Demands
May 10th 2024Posters presented at the ISPOR—The Professional Society for Health Economics and Outcomes Research meeting explored Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) caregiver experiences and gene therapy’s impact on work opportunities for caregivers.
Read More