The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for community oncology practices and, most importantly, the patients they serve. The mission of COA is to ensure that cancer patients receive quality, affordable, and accessible cancer care in their own communities. More than 1.5 million people in the United States are diagnosed with cancer each year and deaths from the disease have been steadily declining due to earlier detection, diagnosis, and treatment.
Ted Okon Highlights COA Committee to Act on Humanitarian Crises
August 21st 2022While the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) was involved in humanitarian work in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, the crisis in Ukraine caused COA to set up a special committee to jump into action, said Ted Okon, MBA, executive director, COA.
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Ted Okon on 340B Hospitals Reporting on Prices for Services and Drugs
August 16th 2022Despite the Hospital Transparency Rule being in effect, the majority of 340B hospitals are not reporting their prices for top services and drugs, and those that have, reported on “egregious” markups, said Ted Okon, MBA, executive director, Community Oncology Alliance.
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Ted Okon Explains the Narrow SCOTUS Ruling on 340B Reimbursements
August 10th 2022The ruling by the Supreme Court on 340B reimbursements was narrow, but it sets up a future reimbursement reduction by HHS that is even greater based on survey data, said Ted Okon, MBA, executive director, Community Oncology Alliance.
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Ted Okon: FTC Should Set Up Guardrails to Protect Americans From PBM Practices
July 26th 2022As part of the investigation into pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) should delve into how PBMs are impacting and fueling drug prices and set up guardrails to protect Americans, said Ted Okon, MBA, executive director, Community Oncology Alliance.
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CMS Announces OCM Successor, but Gap Year Remains for Oncology Practices
June 27th 2022Today, CMS unveiled its plan for a successor to the Oncology Care Model (OCM), its ambitious foray into value-based care delivery that has been credited with changing the landscape for patients with cancer, even if it received mixed reviews on achieving savings in its early years.
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Contributor: It’s Time for Drug Middlemen to Own Up and Pass the Savings to Consumers
May 23rd 2022The dysfunction with pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) is so troublesome that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is currently investigating how they have driven up costs. Until May 25, the FTC is holding a public comment period on PBM practices.
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Angela Storseth-Cooper Describes PBM Influence in Community Oncology, State-Level Interventions
March 24th 2022Angela Storseth-Cooper, associate director, Government Relations & Public Policy, The US Oncology Network, discusses state-level legislation that community oncology practices can leverage to address issues involving pharmacy benefit managers and the vertical integration of health plans and specialty pharmacies.
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Why Measures Matter—and How to Inspire Cancer Practices to Use Them
March 19th 2022Quality measures are the lifeblood of practice transformation, but learning which ones make a difference—and how to use them to drive change—is as much an art as a science, according to 3 oncology care leaders who discussed the topic Friday at the 2022 Community Oncology Conference, presented by the Community Oncology Alliance.
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No One Left Behind, a program to provide financial assistance and access to cancer care at Carolina Blood and Cancer Care Associates in South Carolina, will be discussed during a session of the Community Oncology Alliance 2022 Community Oncology Conference.
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Considerations to Increase Rates of Breast Cancer Screening Across Populations
Authors from the Community Oncology Alliance and Avalere Health present data that show breast cancer screening rates recovered more slowly among some racial/ethnic groups following on the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Dr Kashyap Patel on Health Equity Discussion at the 2022 Community Oncology Conference
March 14th 2022Kashyap Patel, MD, chief executive officer, Carolina Blood and Cancer Care Associations, and current president of the Community Oncology Alliance (COA), previews his discussion on health equity to be held at the 2022 Community Oncology Conference.
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Glenn Balasky Previews Discussion on Building Community Oncology Practice for the Future
March 11th 2022Glenn Balasky, executive director of Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers, previewed topics and potential takeaways from his discussion on building a community oncology practice for the future at the 2022 Community Oncology Conference.
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Dr Kashyap Patel Discusses Benefits of In-Person Community Oncology Conference
February 28th 2022Kashyap Patel, MD, CEO of Carolina Blood and Cancer Care Associates, and current president of the Community Oncology Alliance (COA), speaks on what he’s looking forward to for his first in-person Community Oncology Conference as COA president.
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How Employers Can Achieve High-Value, Cost-Effective Oncology Care Through Genomic Profiling
February 26th 2022A webinar by the National Cancer Treatment Alliance discussed current use and diagnostic/therapeutic benefits of comprehensive genomic profiling in oncology, as well as recommendations for employers and benefit consultants considering biomarker testing.
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COA Survey: Practices Find OCM a Success; Some Added Services May Be at Risk
January 31st 2022The Oncology Care Model (OCM) is set to expire June 30, 2022. With no successor on the horizon, respondents to a recent survey by the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) say features such as dedicated navigators and weekend appointments could be reduced or lost if revenues that supported them are eliminated.
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Community Oncology Leaders Find Silver Linings in the Pandemic
December 20th 2021Debra Patt, MD, PhD, MBA, of Texas Oncology, and Lucio Gordan, MD, of Florida Cancer Specialists, MD, presented data from a study they conducted in partnership with the Community Oncology Alliance and Avalere Health.
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In Oncology, Navigating PBMs Starts With Knowing What’s in the Contract
December 20th 2021Vertical integration of payers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) took flight with the mergers of Aetna and CVS Health and of Cigna and ExpressScripts. Panelists at Patient-Centered Oncology Care® said the shift has filtered down to affect access at the practice level.
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PCOC SPOTLIGHT: Patel Says Let the OCM Continue for Now
December 19th 2021The Oncology Care Model (OCM) is scheduled to end in just a few months, but with no new model in place to succeed it and practices still struggling during the pandemic, CMS should allow OCM to continue, said Kashyap Patel, MD, a co-chair of Patient-Centered Oncology Care® and the current president of the Community Oncology Alliance. He is CEO of Carolina Blood and Cancer Care Associates.
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With No Replacement for OCM on Horizon, Oncology Practices Ask: What Now?
November 22nd 2021The announcement of a "strategic refresh" for payment models under the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation offered no details on what practices should expect when the Oncology Care Model (OCM) expires in 2022.
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Dr Kashyap Patel: OCM Should Continue During the Pandemic
September 24th 2021The Oncology Care Model (OCM) is scheduled to end in just a few months, but with no new model in place to succeed it and practices still struggling during the pandemic, OCM should continue in its current form, said Kashyap Patel, MD, CEO of Carolina Blood and Cancer Care Associations, current president of the Community Oncology Alliance, and co-chair of Patient-Centered Oncology Care®.
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