This Week in Managed Care: September 24, 2016

This week, the top managed care stories included another boost to the Cancer Moonshot initiative, results from an accountable care organization in the Medicare Shared Savings Program, and coverage of new and emerging therapies in Evidence-Based Diabetes Management.

Welcome to This Week in Managed Care from the Managed Markets News Network. I’m Justin Gallagher, associate publisher of The American Journal of Managed Care.

Oncology Clinical Research

This week, Vice President Joe Biden gave another boost to the Cancer Moonshot, an initiative of the National Cancer Institute. Biden’s announcement comes less than 2 weeks after the Blue Ribbon Panel made recommendations to the National Cancer Advisory Board to increase patient participation in clinical trials, no matter where they live.

Biden’s announcements include:

A call to redesign clinical trial information from NCI
A pledge for the FDA to create new trial designs
A final rule for trial registration and results reporting
Efforts to increase usability of ClinicalTrials.gov

“Right now, less than 5% of cancer patients enroll in a clinical trial, often because patients and doctors don’t know what trials are available," Biden said.

From the Field: Impementing MSSP ACO

The new issue of The American Journal of Managed Care features something that’s been missing: a frontline account of what it takes for independent practices to implement the Medicare Shared Savings Program.

Authors Dr Farzad Mostashari and Travis Broome outline strategies that physicians can use to deliver value, both in revenue and in quality care measures, such as decreasing readmissions, reducing lab and imaging costs, and managing care transitions. The results are important, given industry consolidation and fears that independent practices cannot thrive under new payment models.

The authors wrote, “We have learned that, given the right support and incentives, independent primary care practices can embrace population health and practice.”

Read the full article.

New Insulin Combos

The new issue of Evidence-Based Diabetes Management features coverage of new and emerging therapies, including 2 combinations that pair insulin with GLP-1 receptor agonists. In recent weeks, FDA has extended reviews for competing combinations from both Sanofi and Novo Nordisk, which promise improved clinical benefits with fewer side effects.

John Buse, MD, PhD, of the University of North Carolina told EBDM that he has participated in trials of Novo Nordisk’s combination, Xultophy, which combines Tresiba and Victoza, and the results have been impressive.

“The percentage of patients who get A1C levels in the target range is high, while the risk of hypoglycemia or weight gain is low," Buse said.

Sponsored Content: Novo Nordisk

Novo Nordisk and the Victoza team have developed a series of videos to explain cost challenges and the role of evidence in managing diabetes. The videos are part of a broader effort to improve the type 2 diabetes management landscape.

Visit ReconsiderCosts.com for more.

ACO Coalition Meets in Philadelphia

There’s still time to register for the fall meeting of the ACO & Emerging Healthcare Delivery Coalition, which meetings October 20-21 at the Westin in Philadelphia.

Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, who served as both FDA Commissioner and CMS Administrator under President George W. Bush, will be the keynote speaker. McClellan, now the director of the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy, will speak on “Reforming Medicare.”

For more information and to register, click here.

For all of us at the Managed Markets News Network, I’m Justin Gallagher. Thanks for joining us.