Segment 7 - Final Thoughts About Which Patients, Which Drugs, and Which Treatment Timeline

Richard W. Joseph, MD, discusses how the use of predictive biomarkers can either be beneficial to patients who have the markers, or disadvantageous to those who do not have the markers but may still reap some benefit from a targeted agent, such as in the case of PD-1 inhibitors and PD-L1 expression. How a targeted therapy can and will be prescribed is affected by how a therapy is positioned in a practice algorithm, as well as by coverage decisions made by the pharmaceutical and therapeutic committees.

Ira M. Klein, MD, MBA, FACP, expresses his frustration with payments being misaligned with outcomes versus value. Joseph concurs and describes key factors the healthcare system should focus on besides costs, including quality of life and treatment delivery processes.

Watch our related Peer Exchange, Oncology Stakeholder Summit 2014: Evidence-Based Decisions to Improve Quality and Regulate Costs