Key Measures to Improve Oncology Care and Outcomes

A conversation on patient-reported outcomes and the occurrence of adverse events leads the managed care stakeholders into a discussion about the measures used to evaluate the overall performance status of a patient.

Michael Kolodziej, MD, explains that physician assessment of patient performance status is a poor surrogate for a patient’s actual performance status, and measures that help physicians ask the right questions and incorporate the needs of their patients during patient-physician interactions need to be established.

Brian Kiss, MD, agrees with Dr Kolodziej and discusses how the establishment of measures can also have a positive influence on the overall healthcare reimbursement process. Dr Kiss explains that currently, the measures that are used by health plans for reimbursement purposes don’t correlate well with patient-centered outcomes. He adds that payers need better measurement tools to effectively assess care and assign payment to high-quality care.

Although there are many challenges to the development of measures that correlate well with outcomes, Dr Kiss and Ted Okon, MBA, explain that a few do exist and are currently being incorporated into regular practice.

Mr Okon highlights Dr Barbara L. McAneny’s COME HOME program, which is supported by a grant from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation. This program has implemented a community oncology medical home model in 7 practices across the country; it is hoped that this model will help improve health outcomes, enhance patient care experiences, and significantly reduce costs of care. Mr Okon adds that 19 measures of quality and value are already being incorporated into electronic medical record systems.