By Sara Pugh and JP Strapp
The Kinetix Group (TKG) had the honor of participating in this year’s Community Oncology Conference: Fueling the Cancer Moonshot from April 27th-28th at the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center in National Harbor, MD. The conference is held annually to share the latest community oncology treatment advances, operational best practices, and payment reform models among leading physicians, policymakers, and business stakeholders.
TKG’s three key takeaways from the Community Oncology Conference included:
- Oncology Care Model 2.0 has great potential as a value-based cancer care imperative. Led by Kavita Patel, MD and Ted Okon, MBA, OCM 2.0 looks to improve on the existing CMS Oncology Care Model. The program in development aims to address some of the design flaws in the current program and utilize more actionable data. Most importantly, by attempting to include drug spending, OCM 2.0 may have a bigger impact on the total cost of care.
- Alternative payment model growth is slow but steady. Many practice leaders don’t expect fee-for-service to disappear anytime soon. But with OCM participation, MIPS/MACRA, and emerging payer initiatives, alternative payment will be impacting a large number of cancer care patients. The tipping point may occur when two-sided risk becomes a reality.
- More biosimilars coming soon! “Biosimilar Check-up: Availability and Clinical/Financial Issues,” a presentation led by Edward Li, PharmD, discussed the pathway for approval of biosimilars under the PHSA 351(k) pathway. The biosimilar trastuzumab’s comparative clinical trial has been completed and published for the treatment of early/locally advanced breast cancer. Two other biosimilars, rituximab and bevacizumab, are currently in phase 3 trials.