To Support Pathways, OneOncology Creates Disease Groups

As use of clinical pathways becomes more common in cancer care, a leading national platform for independent community practices is building the infrastructure to develop and maintain them.

OneOncology, based in Nashville, Tennessee, today announced formation of 5 disease groups, which will offer subspecialty expertise and create education opportunities for the network’s 700 providers, who work in 181 care sites and a variety of settings.

“With science evolving at such an incredibly rapid pace, every physician cannot become an expert across all settings, but all our patients deserve and expect expert advice,” Davey Daniel, MD, chief medical officer for OneOncology, said in a statement. “We’ve developed OneOncology Disease Groups to account for subspecialization across our platform. By tapping into the expertise of leaders across our practices, the disease groups equip every provider on our platform with the latest scientific information to help them provide the best care possible for their patients.”

Each disease group guides and approves OneOncology clinical pathways to reflect evidenced-based national guidelines, which are updated often as new trial results are published or presented at major scientific meetings. For a physician using the OneOncology platform, the pathways serve as a foundation to providers as they address the specific features of each patient’s cancer.

According to the statement, OneOncology has already developed disease-specific pathways for many common cancer types, such as non-small cell lung cancer, renal cell cancer, and prostate cancer. Once the pathway is developed, each disease group will continuously oversee updates as new therapies are developed and standards of care change. Pathways can then be utilized through clinical decision support tools and software.

In addition, the disease groups provide guidance in multiple areas:

• They offer direction on clinical trials to OneR, the in-house research arm of OneOncology.
• They provide the Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee expertise on newly approved therapies.
• They oversee medical education topics and deliver strategic direction regarding innovative care models.

Disease groups and chairs are: for lung cancer, Melissa Johnson, MD, Tennessee Oncology; for breast cancer, Gregory Vidal, MD, PhD, West Cancer Center & Research Institute; for genitourinary cancers, Jahan Aghalar, MD, New York Cancer & Blood Specialists; for gastrointestinal cancers, Henry Xiong, MD, PhD, The Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders; and for hematologic malignancies: Jonathan Abbas, MD, Tennessee Oncology.

“Each disease group chair is a well-regarded expert in their subspecialization, and all are leaders who other physicians turn to when they have a confounding clinical case and need advice,” Jeff Patton, MD, CEO, OneOncology, said in the statement. “Each of these physicians also has a propensity for leadership and zest for inspiring other physicians. I know each will be an incredible partner willing to share their expertise with physicians throughout our platform.”