Newswise — Washington, D.C. [June 25, 2018] — Today, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®)’s Oncology Policy Program hosted a summit focused on pragmatic approaches for providing the highest quality cancer care possible in the face of changing laws and technology. The program, “Policy Strategies for the “New Normal” in Health Care to Ensure Access to High Quality Cancer Care,” took place at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, and included diverse perspectives from clinicians, lawmakers, patient advocates, and others. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, provided the opening keynote address. Congressmen Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA) and Ted Poe (R-TX), co-chairs of the Congressional Cancer Survivors Caucus, offered their perspectives as lawmakers.
“Our hope is that everyone comes away from this summit with a fuller understanding of some of the complex issues involved in delivering the best cancer care possible to the largest number of people,” said Robert W. Carlson, MD, Chief Executive Officer, NCCN. “At NCCN, we create opportunities for speakers with varying viewpoints to have a face-to-face conversation about patient access to high quality cancer care. By including speakers with diverse perspectives, we can explore how policy and practice need to evolve in order to provide everyone with access to safe, effective cancer care.”
One key topic of conversation throughout the summit was the role patients and caregivers have in determining their own most valuable path, and how best to equip them for it.
“Empowered, knowledgeable patients and families are our best defense against shoddy cancer care,” said Joseph Alvarnas, MD, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center. “We have a responsibility to educate patients and families who are in search of high quality care, as to what constitutes true quality in relation to their cancer journey.”
Survivor, Health Advocate, and Consultant Stefanie Joho agreed. “Physicians and patients need to be partners — effective communication between them is key,” she said. Joho also pointed out that people with cancer aren’t the only ones in need of education, particularly when confronted with new treatment methods. “Cutting edge therapies require the constant advancement of continuing education for oncologists.”
Stephanie Farnia, MPH, The American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, offered some of their ‘lessons learned’ on provider perspectives from the launch of CAR T-cell therapy, namely, “The Medicare inpatient reimbursement system, in its current form, is not set up well to deal with these leaps in technology and associated high price points. New treatments that launch without a complete reimbursement and coding plan will face a lag in uptake by providers. Therefore, companies need to understand — and work to remedy — the financial pressure the high price of innovations can put on providers.”
Speakers and panelists throughout the summit also emphasized the importance of clinical trial participation.
“Recent advances in cancer care have been driven by the identification of targetable mutations, harnessing the immune system's ability to fight cancer, and improved symptom management,” explained Pavan Reddy, MD, Kansas Society of Clinical Oncology, Cancer Center of Kansas. “These advances were fueled by drug development and testing through clinical trials. It is essential to encourage patient participation in these trials, in order to deliver high quality and personalized cancer care while continuing to advance the science.”
Joho agreed, stating “Clinical trials must be destigmatized.”
“Innovations in the oncology space have been accelerating in recent years,” said NCCN’s Director of Policy, Alyssa Schatz, MSW. “It’s exciting, but it also requires constant adaptation.”
Schatz explained that the past decade has also seen numerous changes to health care policy and payment models, from the shifting of authority away from the federal government toward individual states, as well as the move from fee-for-service payment models toward value-based models of care.
During the summit, NCCN debuted results from a survey of NCI-designated cancer centers regarding their experience with exchange marketplace coverage plans, conducted from December 2017 through January 2018 by Avalere Health. Out of the 29 responding centers across 21 states plus Washington, DC, 25 were only in network for some, not all of the ACA exchange plans available in their state. Two more were excluded from all of their state’s exchanges. The percentage of centers that were excluded despite attempting to be in network rose slightly from 2017 to 2018.
“This tells us that we have to be concerned with consumer education efforts in order to make sure people who purchase plans on an exchange fully understand any limitations when they sign up,” said Schatz. “If people opt for lower premiums, they need to be made aware if that could restrict where they’re eligible to be treated, or lead to higher out-of-pocket costs in the future.”
The panel discussions were moderated by Clifford Goodman, PhD, The Lewin Group, and also included input from:
- Joseph Antos, PhD, American Enterprise Institute
- Jennifer Carlson, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
- John Cox, DO, Parkland Health and Hospital System, UT Southwestern
- Elizabeth Franklin, LGSW, ACSW, Cancer Support Community
- Anna Griffin, Kite, A Gilead Company
- Meghan Gutierrez, Lymphoma Research Foundation
- Caron A. Jacobson, MD, Dana Farber Cancer Institute/Brigham and Women’s Hospital
- Ron Kline, MD, FAAP, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI)
- Kavita Patel, MD, Brookings Institute
- Michael Ybarra, MD, PhRMA.
NCCN’s next policy summit, “Policy Challenges and Opportunities to Address Changing Paradigms in Cancer Care Delivery,” will take place on September 13th, at the National Press Club. Then on December 10th, the organization will host a Patient Advocacy Summit to address “Advocating for Equity in Cancer Care.” Visit NCCN.org/policy for more information, and join the conversation online with the hashtag #NCCNPolicy.
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About the National Comprehensive Cancer Network
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®), a not-for-profit alliance of 27 leading cancer centers devoted to patient care, research, and education, is dedicated to improving the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of cancer care so that patients can live better lives. Through the leadership and expertise of clinical professionals at NCCN Member Institutions, NCCN develops resources that present valuable information to the numerous stakeholders in the health care delivery system. As the arbiter of high-quality cancer care, NCCN promotes the importance of continuous quality improvement and recognizes the significance of creating clinical practice guidelines appropriate for use by patients, clinicians, and other health care decision-makers.
The NCCN Member Institutions are: Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, Omaha, NE; Case Comprehensive Cancer Center/University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center and Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute, Cleveland, OH; City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Los Angeles, CA; Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women’s Cancer Center | Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, MA; Duke Cancer Institute, Durham, NC; Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA; Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT; Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Seattle, WA; The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD; Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, IL; Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ, Jacksonville, FL, and Rochester, MN; Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY; Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL; The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, Columbus, OH; Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY; Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO; St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital/The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN; Stanford Cancer Institute, Stanford, CA; University of Alabama at Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center, Birmingham, AL; UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, La Jolla, CA; UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Francisco, CA; University of Colorado Cancer Center, Aurora, CO; University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, MI; The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX; University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, Madison, WI; Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, TN; and Yale Cancer Center/Smilow Cancer Hospital, New Haven, CT.
Clinicians, visit NCCN.org. Patients and caregivers, visit NCCN.org/patients. Media, visit NCCN.org/news. Follow NCCN on Twitter @NCCNnews and Facebook @National.Comprehensive.Cancer.Network.
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