What Happened in Vegas: Highlights from the 2017 Cancer Center Business Summit

Last week in Las Vegas, the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) co-hosted the 2017 Cancer Center Business Summit, a two-day conference focused on how the business of oncology is being transformed by the dual drivers of science and technology. Featured speakers and panelists from cancer programs, technology innovators, patient advocate groups, and payers came together to explore how new technology impacts the delivery and future of cancer care. Session topics highlighted clinical pathways, advanced alternative payment models (APMs), patient-centered care, genomic science, and more. Below are highlights from three conference sessions.

A session on Clinical Pathways: With What Result? looked at how the use of pathways and guidelines have changed clinical practice in oncology and created value. Panelist Marcus Neubauer, MD, Medical Director, Oncology Services, McKesson Specialty Health and The US Oncology Network, offered four forward-looking takeaways:

1. Quality, performance, and resource consumption will be measured for ALL Medicare providers via MIPS (the Merit-based Incentive Payment System) or APMs.
2. The value of drugs and technology will be scrutinized carefully by ALL providers—public and private.
3. Adherence to clinical pathways is a cornerstone for value-based care models.
4. Practices must transform to meet value-based requirements; provide enhanced services; and be able to negotiate reimbursement contracts with payers that support these aligned efforts.

The focus on new reimbursement models continued in a session on Alternative Payment in Oncology: Today & Tomorrow.  Panelists offered perspectives on their experiences with APMs to date and their outlook for the future. Kelly Blair, MPA, Vice President Consulting, Sg2, shared results from a member survey, which found that:

• 64% of Sg2 members are NOT participating in oncology-specific value-based or alternative payment programs.
• Operational issues were cited as the biggest barrier to participation.
• Of those that are participating, 80% are participating in the Oncology Care Model (OCM).

Panelist Dave Terry, Chief Executive Officer, Archway Health, offered lessons learned implementing bundled payment models:

• Develop accountable incentives in your bundled payment contracts.
• Leverage data analytics.
• Ensure specialist engagement.
• Embrace innovation.

And panelist Cynthia Terrano, Vice President Payer Strategies, Moffitt Cancer Center, noted the importance of getting payers involved in the conversation. “The train has left the station on APMs,” she told meeting attendees. “Cancer programs need to reach out to their payers now to develop partnerships and experiment with different alternative payment models.”

With data collection a pivotal piece of value-based payment, what help might lie ahead for community oncology? In a discussion on Big Data Platforms to Support Community Oncology, panelist Robert S. Miller, MD, Vice President and Medical Director, CancerLinQ, shared his perspective of what the future may hold, including:

1. Widespread data sharing.
2. Meaningful penetration of actionable oncology-specific technology.
3. Real insights gleaned from unsupervised machine learning applied to next generation sequencing (NGS) output.
4. Big data platforms supporting external compliance reporting.
5. Real-world evidence used in regulatory decisions.
6. Greater structured data capture in EHRs embedded in clinician workflows—a culture change aided by technology solutions.

At the end of a busy two days of sessions, one message came across loud and clear—it will truly take a village to deliver cancer care in the 21st century. Beyond the multidisciplinary cancer care team, this village will include technology innovators that are designing the IT infrastructure necessary to move from fee-based to value-based care; third-party laboratories that process and interpret the genetic and genomic tests required to deliver personalized or precision medicine; and specialty pharmacies that are critical to patients accessing life-saving medications and the financial assistance services they need to afford them.

March 29–31, 2017, in Washington, D.C., the ACCC 43^rd Annual Meeting CANCERSCAPE will bring together policy experts and key stakeholders from leading national organizations to share insights on the status of the Affordable Care Act and how value-based care, drug pricing reform, and changes to Medicare will affect cancer programs and practices. Learn more. Early Bird registration rates end Friday, February 17.