Dr Michael Diaz Outlines Important Lessons Learned From the OCM

Networking with other practices, sharing ideas, and getting physicians involved in the process can aid community practices moving to alternative payment models (APMs), said Michael Diaz, MD, president of Community Oncology Alliance.

Transcript:

What are the most important lessons from the OCM that Florida Cancer Specialists can share with other community practices that are moving to APMs?

I thought about this because we've been working at this very diligently for the past several years. I would say, it takes a lot of collaboration. You need to network with the other practices involved. You need to share ideas. You need to network with specialists that understand the data that you're receiving from CMS. Because whenever you get the data, it's not very easy to interpret or understand. You need to work with a specialist that can help sift through all the details so that you can understand why your practice performed the way that you did. Until you know that information, it's very difficult to make improvements. Networking, working with experts, I would say those are the main things. Also, you have to get the physicians involved and you have to get their buy in. They have to really understand the importance and believe in it and understand why they're doing it. I think that if you get all those major components aligned, along with having very good management, practice management, that can sort of glue all that together. I think that helps to optimize success in any form of alternative payment model including Oncology Care Model.