Laura Joszt, MA

With cancer costs rising and patients with cancer disproportionately facing financial toxicity, alternative payment and care delivery models are thought to help alleviate some of the cost burden. However, a review finds limited evidence available to evaluate the efficacy of alternative payment and care models in cancer care.

Cancer-regenerating cells that arise after chemotherapy have been identified as a new type of cancerous cell that is responsible for the return of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) after remission.

A majority of US physicians have a pessimistic view about the future of medicine, believe value-based payments won't improve quality of care or reduce costs, and treat patients with social conditions that impact their health.

A new report contradicts CMS’ claim that the Medicare Shared Savings Program increased Medicare spending by $344 million from 2013 to 2015. The new analysis finds that accountable care organizations (ACOs) actually reduced federal spending by $542 million after accounting for shared savings payments earned.

Children of Hispanic ethnicity have a higher risk of developing neurotoxicity when they are treated with methotrexate for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) compared with non-Hispanic white children.

Research has shown nonemergency medical transportation can be essential for patients in rural areas, as well as the poor, elderly, and chronically ill. In a Health Affairs blog post, authors from CareMore Health show how the company has found success with Lyft after a pilot program it ran in 2016.

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have found that preventing a mutated protein from leaving the nucleus and traveling to the cytoplasm of the cell can help inhibit the growth of leukemic cells in acute myeloid leukemia.

An early review of the second performance period of the Oncology Care Model (OCM) seems to show improvements over the first period.

A new payment model bridges services in the clinical setting and the community to improve outcomes for patients with substance use disorder.

Patients with multiple myeloma (MM) who are enrolled in a Medicare Part D plan or other creditable prescription drug coverage have better survival than patients without prescription drug coverage. According to a study in Journal of Clinical Oncology, this improved survival seemed to be a result of patients having access to all treatment options.

Access to care is not enough to improve care and prevent deaths; expansion of health coverage has to be paired with investments to create high-quality health systems, according to a study in The Lancet.

Airports provide multiple sites of risk to contract respiratory viruses, with plastic security screening trays posing the highest potential risk, according to new research published in BMC Infectious Diseases.

There has been little progress in improving levels of physical activity worldwide, according to new research from the World Health Organization. Here are 5 findings about physical activity and health, worldwide.

HHS is seeking comments on potentially expanding safe harbors under the antikickback statute of the Stark Law in order to better promote care coordination and value-based arrangements.

Amgen has submitted a supplemental New Drug Application to the FDA to expand the prescribing information of carfilzomib (Kyprolis) to include a once-weekly dosing option in combination with dexamethasone for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

A new long-acting treatment for hemophilia A has been approved for previously treated patients, aged 12 years and older. Bayer’s Jivi was also approved for on-demand treatment and the perioperative management of bleeding in the same population.

As the healthcare system considers alternative payment models that reward high-value care delivery, programs that utilize lay health workers (LHW) may be valuable. A study in JAMA Oncology analyzed whether an LHW program can increase the documentation of patients’ care preferences.

New research from the Employee Benefit Research Institute has found that although there was some erosion in health insurance offered by employers after the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the percentage of private-sector employers offering health benefits increased in 2017 for the first time since 2008.

A survey of patients in the United Kingdom who were diagnosed with cancer found that patients with blood cancers were the least likely to say they completely understood what was wrong when the doctor explained it. They were also less likely to say that their treatment options were explained before treatment started compared with patients with other cancers.

As cure rates for young patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) improve, the historically negative impact of treatments has to be considered. However, a new study has found that over time, childbearing rates for female survivors of HL have improved to the point of approaching the rates of the general population.

In a new commentary in JAMA Internal Medicine, authors highlighted the results of the hospital-at-home (HaH) program at Mount Sinai Health System that resulted in the Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee recommending full implementation of the bundled HaH program, as well as clinical and policy issues raised by the program.

The first patient has been treated in a phase 2b dose-confirmation study of AMT-061, an investigational gene therapy for the treatment of patients with severe and moderately severe hemophilia B. Once the dosing of AMT-061 is confirmed, the safety and efficacy of the therapy will be evaluated in the global phase 3 HOPE-B clinical trial.

The proposed Medicare Shared Savings Program rule has many sweeping changes that present a number new opportunities, but also challenges. In addition, the National Association of ACOs highlighted its concerns that the changes will decrease the number of ACOs and may discourage new entrants.

A blood test that tracks the rise and fall of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) levels can predict how patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma will respond to therapy within days of starting treatment.

Using lower-cost generic drugs that are as safe and effective as the brand-name versions could have saved more than $900 million in Medicare in 2016, according to research published in JAMA.

Payment reform efforts that don't engage patients are missing out on an opportunity for greater improvements, especially in cancer, where patients face substantial cost sharing.

Accountable care organizations (ACOs), either directly or indirectly, are affecting physician employment patterns in regions where they have high penetration.

A new technology platform utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) could change how drug combinations are designed and help doctors to identify optimal personalized drug combinations for patients with multiple myeloma.