Like most people interested in the future on cancer care payment, I have been tracking the COME HOME community oncology medical home pilot ever since the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation announced that it was awarding $19.8 million to help seven cancer care practices adopt the medical home model.
The pilot wraps up in July, and it will be a while before we learn how it worked out for the practices. But a sneak preview published in Health Affairs last year suggested that the model was not financially sustainable.
My palms have been sweating ever since I read that, because so many oncology administrators and oncologists have been working for the past three years to prepare for the oncology medical home model.
However, my worries were for naught. I recently spoke with Steve D'Amato, BSPharm, BCOP, Executive Director of New England Cancer Specialists (formerly Maine Center for Cancer Medicine), one of the COME HOME pilot practices. In March, D'Amato started a term as President of the Association of Community Cancer Centers, and he obviously believes the oncology medical home model is here to stay. In fact, he is making that the theme of his ACCC presidential term. In an interview, he discussed why that is a top priority.
Listen to a podcast of our conversation in the iPad edition of this issue, and/or read a transcript in my OT blog: bit.ly/1zV5cVE
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