Latest Conference Articles

Can we predict which patients are at high risk of hospitalization? How can we reduce this risk? Debra Patt, MD, MPH, MBA, executive vice president of policy and strategy at Texas Oncology, posed these questions during the ACCC 46th Annual Meeting and Cancer Center Business Summit.

As we move from the mono-therapy era into the combination era, we have to think of new arrangements, perhaps value-based arrangements that will work with the payers and the manufacturers so that patients will have access to these drugs and also have the best ability to get value from them, said Lee Schwartzberg, MD, FACP, chief medical officer and board member at OneOncology.

Healthcare is not political, it’s personal, Senator Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan, told an audience at the ACCC 46th Annual Meeting and Cancer Center Business Summit, imploring them to come together in a nonpartisan way to improve care access and quality and to reduce costs.

My Presidential theme was to look at the interdisciplinary care team involved in the actual delivery of cancer therapies and cancer care, said Ali McBride, PharmD, MS, BCPS, BCOP, clinical coordinator of hematology/oncology in the Department of Pharmacy at The University of Arizona Cancer Center and outgoing president of ACCC.

Evolution. Disruption. Innovation. Telemedicine. A virtual exchange of information. Healthcare has lagged behind in these aspects, but it’s necessary to transcend time and distance, according to Susan Dentzer, senior policy fellow at the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy.

There are many applications that are available today that could be brought into the oncology landscape to create a much more patient-centered focus of experiences for those undergoing care, said Susan Dentzer, senior policy fellow at the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy.

Although many investigators have pushed the envelope in researching how patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) experience disabilities, there is still a need for more knowledge on how those disabilities evolve over time, according to Cynthia Delgado, MD, associate professor of medicine at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center and University of California San Francisco Medical Center.

Frailty significantly raises the risk of developing disabilities as a result of hemodialysis, so even patients who are intermediately frail should be monitored, said Cynthia Delgado, MD, associate professor of medicine at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center and University of California San Francisco Medical Center.

Educating primary care clinicians on how to manage chronic kidney disease in the primary care setting can help avoid referrals for nephrology consults that aren’t needed, said Joseph Vassalotti, MD, clinical professor at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and chief medical officer of the National Kidney Foundation.

Clinicians should be mindful of how their patients with disabilities function in their everyday lives, not just in the exam room, according to Cynthia Delgado, MD, associate professor of medicine at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center and University of California San Francisco Medical Center.

Patients should have final say and control over their health data, HHS said Tuesday.

Atul Grover, MD, PhD, the executive vice president for the Association of American Medical Colleges, sat down with Representative Lauren Underwood, D-Illinois, for a conversation about her healthcare-related efforts during her first year in Congress representing people from a suburban rural district 2 hours from Chicago.

The evolution of data in healthcare in combination with policy advancements demonstrates how far the field has come but also brings up new challenges.

From a value-based medicine perspective, we think there's no greater value in the healthcare system than improving survival for cancer patients and reducing the costs of treating late stage cancer; we believe the GRAIL test could be the test case for how to make this transition, said Joshua Ofman, MD, MSHS, chief of Corporate Strategy and External Affairs at GRAIL Inc.

CKDintercept, the primary care initiative of the National Kidney Foundation, involves multiple strategies aimed at improving the quality of kidney care, explained Joseph Vassalotti, MD, clinical professor at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and chief medical officer of the National Kidney Foundation.

Physical disabilities may make it difficult for patients with chronic kidney disease to follow provider recommendations and achieve a good therapeutic alliance, which can lead to increased burden of illness, according to Cynthia Delgado, MD, associate professor of medicine at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center and University of California San Francisco Medical Center.

The GUARD-AF trial will allow us to look at both the benefits and the risks of screening for atrial fibrillation and the reduction of stroke, said Roland Chen, MD, MS, vice president and head of clinical development for innovative medicines at Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Pathways are not trying to restrict or take control of treating the patient from the physician, it’s actually trying to enhance that for the physician and take the guesswork of how to do that out of it, said Rani Khetarpal, MBA, vice president of Oncology Value-Based Partnerships at New Century Health.

We are really excited about the progress we have seen in the EXPLORER-HCM trial, and after the results are published in the first half of 2020, we will quickly begin conversations to seek FDA approval of mavacamten, said Jay Edelberg, MD, PhD, senior vice president of Clinical Development at MyoKardia.

Blue Cross Blue Shield utilizes data to drive insights into what works and what doesn't work in cancer care, as well as, delineating trends through our collaboration with provider specialties and organizations across the US, said Jennifer Atkins, MBA, vice president of Network Solutions at Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Results of the PIONEER-OLE study has shown promising results of mavacamten for patients with obstructive HCM that will be further evaluated in our pivotal phase 3 EXPLORER-HCM trial, said Jay Edelberg, MD, PhD, senior vice president of Clinical Development at MyoKardia.

At the end of the day, the focus should be on improving the efficiency of our healthcare system and bringing cost-effective care to patients, said Jane Barlow, MD, MPH, MBA, EVP and Chief Clinical Officer for Real Endpoints.

There are multiple ways in which people with diabetes can develop heart failure, which is why heightened awareness through the initiative Diabetes Can Break Your Heart is warranted, said Javed Butler, MD, MPH, MBA, professor of physiology and chairman for the Department of Medicine at the University of Mississippi.

Recent findings have shown that aerobic exercise improves microvascular function and coronary artery function in patients with kidney disease, but further research is needed on the relationship between exercise and kidney function, said Danielle Kirkman, PhD, assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University.

The patient's voice is important in analyzing and evaluating the effectiveness of care, as well as in assessing the value of new treatments, said Stephen Edge, MD, FACS, FASCO, vice president of Healthcare Outcomes and Policy at Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

Through the risk-based, capitated model it has implemented, New Century Health promotes the ability to control drug costs without jeopardizing care for the patient, said Rani Khetarpal, MBA, vice president of Oncology Value-Based Partnerships at New Century Health.

The phase 2 ESCaPE-CMD study results exhibited a significant improvement in coronary flow reserve for patients with CMD, said C. Noel Bairey Merz, MD, FACC, FAHA, director of the Barbra Streisand Women's Heart Center.

Future research should examine the effects of exercise on slowing the progression of kidney disease, among other important questions, according to Danielle Kirkman, PhD, assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University.

An increasing emphasis on prevention is shifting the mindset around pediatric nephrology, and findings from ongoing studies will further expand the evidence base, said Tammy Brady, MD, PhD, medical director of the Pediatric Hypertension Program and associate professor of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University.

A major upcoming challenge in healthcare will be determining how to pay for specialty drugs and medical advancements like cellular therapies, said Bret Jackson, president of the Economic Alliance for Michigan.