David Ortiz Highlights Changes in Care as a Result of OCM

The Oncology Care Model (OCM) has set off a ripple of change in cancer care that extends beyond the patients who are in the model, said David Ortiz, OCM program director at Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care.

Transcript

Are physicians who are in OCM practices getting more used to this new way of delivering care? How have they adjusted?

I think OCM has been that ripple, that first ripple, in a wave of events that now are kind of connected. So, OCM, now, is expanding to a more consistent language. So, everything is about value-based, now everything is tied to quality. It always was, but I think now the stamp of OCM really gave us the opportunity to talk more about it on a more consistent basis and engage the providers.

Most of the clinicians, like the mid-levels and the nurses, they’ve really been like our champions for this process and then we’ve instilled navigators who are seasoned veteran—they’re nurses who’ve already earned their respect long ago. That kind of all mixed together has been a great wave.

Are patients noticing a difference in the way care is delivered to them under OCM?

I think that we’re making incremental changes. And I think the patients that we are focused on typically are the sickest, the poorest, and the ones in most need. However, we’re setting the tone for what we really need to do for every patient. And I think you’re starting to see that. So, when a navigator introduces, you know like, “Hi, my name is Eileen, I’m here to navigate,” there are people right beside like, “Where’s my Eileen?” And that’s what we’re using to justify trying to expand.

I think that’s one of the harder pieces to that is we have to stay focused because we have to produce results, but we need to really radiate out to everyone in need. So, we’re starting to see an even balance of patients who are non-OCM, as well as OCM patients, being navigated, because the need outweighs the program itself.