Navigating the Road Map to Quality Cancer Care

WHAT: 39th Annual National Meeting Association of Community Cancer Centers

WHEN: Wednesday, March 6, 2013 – Friday, March 8, 2013

WHERE: Washington Marriott Wardman Park, Washington, D.C.

Leaders from the nation’s hospital-based cancer programs and oncology practices will gather in Washington, D.C., for the Association of Community Cancer Centers' 39th Annual National Meeting. Join us as the nation’s oncology experts explore all of the paths leading to a common destination: quality cancer care. With a focus on policy, business, and economics, this meeting is designed to help cancer care professionals navigate the challenges ahead.

On point sessions will cover virtual care, variability, personalized care, Medicaid expansion, bundling, ASP, and oncology medical home.

The meeting kicks off with ACCC’s Capitol Hill Day on March 6, bringing together providers from across the country to advocate for quality cancer care on Capitol Hill.

Meeting sessions on Thursday and Friday offer attendees insight on Congress, the impact of ACA roll out, changing payment models, new accreditation requirements, and more.

Here are a few meeting highlights.

Keynote Address
Forecasting the Future of Healthcare: Challenges, Opportunities, and Responses
Jeffrey C. Bauer, PhD
Thursday, March 7, 8:45 am – 9:45 am
What trends are likely to detour us on the road to providing quality cancer care? Internationally recognized thought leader, Jeff Bauer, forecasts the evolution of healthcare and develops practical approaches to improving the medical sector of the U.S. economy. Dr. Bauer is widely known for his proposals offering specifics on creating an efficient, effective healthcare delivery system through multi-stakeholder partnerships and initiatives focused in the private sector.

What a Continually Divided Congress Means for Healthcare
Thursday, March 7, 10:15 am – 11:15 am
Over the past several years, we’ve seen historic gridlock in Washington, D.C., with important issues facing community oncology taking a back seat and largely being ignored. This session will explore the likelihood of compromise in 2013. Or, are we in for at least two more years of the same?

Rational Care vs. Rationed Care
Thursday, March 7, 11:15 am – 12:30pm
How do you balance the drive to deliver personalized cancer care with the need to reduce healthcare costs? The increase in FDA-approved anticancer agents is bringing new promising therapeutic options, but often at high costs. At the same time, many are warning that the cost of cancer care will become unsustainable within the next decade. Panelists will explore all sides of this hot-button issue.

Who Defines Quality Care?
Thursday, March 7, 1:30pm – 2:45 pm
Who defines quality cancer care? Providers? Payers? Patients? And in oncology— where not all treatments are intended to be curative—is an industry-wide definition of quality care even appropriate? Panelists will consider how stakeholders can work together to answer these pivotal questions.

Is Variability a Dirty Word?
Thursday, March 7, 4:15pm – 5:15 pm
The need to manage costs, maintain quality, and demonstrate value in oncology is driving a shift toward pathways, episode of care payment, and guidelines. The goal: increased consistency and decision-making that is evidence based. At the same time, recent advances have led to increased development of targeted treatments with the aim of delivering personalized therapy. Can standardization of care truly work in oncology? Panelists explore the evolution of oncology care, with a special focus on the intersection of molecular testing and genetic-targeted therapies and the trend toward care driven by guidelines and cost metrics.

The New Language of Community Oncology
Friday, March 8, 8:45 am – 9:45 am
This session looks at what’s proven ineffective to date: pre-authorization, pay for performance and shared savings, a national drug formulary, comparative effectiveness, and alternatives to the buy-and-bill models. Then the discussion will turn to what has worked – incremental innovation, the supply chain, the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit, ASP and buy-and-bill. A provocative session designed to help community oncology stay on course in today’s ever-changing healthcare environment.

Cancer Care Trends 2013
Friday, March 8, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Be the first to hear the results of the ACCC's 2013 Cancer Care Trends Survey, designed to help the understanding of developments in the business aspects of cancer care. Issues include consolidation, expansion, replacement of clinical technology, hiring and financial health.

Pathways, ACOs and Medical Homes
Friday, March 8, 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
What payment structure is best suited to the needs of your cancer program and patients? How can this be efficiently operationalized?