PCOC 2022 Brings “Equity Equals Access for All” to Nashville and Virtual Audience

Patient-Centered Oncology Care® (PCOC), the premier multistakeholder cancer care meeting from The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®), starts tomorrow in Nashville, Tennessee, with 2 days of discussions on how to achieve the related goals of closing health care disparities and eliminating barriers for patients.

Now in its 11th year, PCOC strives to bring together providers, payers, policy and technology leaders, as well as members of the pharmaceutical industry, in one place to exchange ideas in a setting that allows for both formal and informal exchanges. Leading community oncology providers and those from academia are both represented, with the focus on practice transformation and emerging payment models.

Rather than limit the discussion of health equity to a single panel, the steering committee for PCOC asked that this theme be carried across every panel discussion, and the moderators and panelists have prepared for presentations that will reflect the current focus on eliminating disparities in care. The meeting will feature panels on bringing a population health lens to cancer care, new quality initiatives, improving clinical trials, the future of real-world evidence, as well as panels on advances in genomic testing, clinical pathways, and the impact of bring gene therapies into earlier lines of care.

The meeting co-chairs are Joseph Alvarnas, MD, vice president of Government Affairs and senior medical director for AccessHope, City of Hope; and Kashyap Patel, the current president of the Community Oncology Alliance who is CEO of Carolina Blood and Cancer Care Associates, based in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Alvarnas and Patel are editor-in-chief and associate editor, respectively, of Evidence-Based Oncology™, a publication of AJMC®.

Alyssa Schatz, MSW, senior director for Policy and Advocacy with the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, will kick off the meeting Wednesday afternoon with a featured talk, “Improving Care Outcomes Through Guideline Adherence.”

Offering the keynote address Thursday morning will be Debra Patt, MD, PhD, MBA, executive vice president, Public Policy and Strategic Initiatives, Texas Oncology. She will speak on, “What the DESTINY-Breast04 Findings Mean for Managed Care,” highlighting the implications of clinical trial results presented earlier this year that could affect up to half of all breast cancer patients.

The first day will also feature a fireside chat on how practices can success in value-based care, featuring leaders from 3 successful practice groups: Stephen Schleicher, MD, chief medical officer of Tennessee Oncology, which is part of OneOncology; Lalan Wilfong, MD, vice president for Payer Relations and Practice Transformation, The US Oncology Network/McKesson; and medical director, Hematology/Oncology; Northwest Medical Specialties.

Those who wish to take part in the virtual format can still access the registration page.