The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the nation's largest payer for cancer care, last month announced its long-awaited Oncology Care Model (http://bit.ly/1CokFjH), and I will be investigating various aspects of that in future issues as well as in my Practice Matters OT blog (bit.ly/OT-LolaButcher).
In the meantime, shortly before the CMS announcement, the agency also provided news about how quickly it intends to move to value-based payment: By the end of 201, the plan is to have 50 percent of its payments to physicians and hospitals based on the quality and cost of care they provide.
I had the chance to speak with Lindsay Conway and Rob Lazerow from The Advisory Board Company to get their take on what this all means for oncologists. The Advisory Board Company is a research, consulting, and technology company that works with about 3,800 hospitals, health systems, employed medical groups, and independent physician practices.
Conway heads the company's Oncology Roundtable, a membership program for cancer care administrators, most of whom work in hospital-based cancer programs. Lazerow leads the Health Care Advisory Board, working with senior health system executives and overseeing research about new payment models.
Listen to a podcast of the conversation on the iPad edition of this issue, and/or read the transcript at http://bit.ly/OT-ConwayLazerow.
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