Hospice or Hospital: The Costs of Dying of Cancer in the Oncology Care Model.

End-of-life management is a difficult aspect of cancer care. With the oncology care model (OCM), we have data to assess both clinical outcomes and total cost of care (TCOC). To measure and characterize the TCOC for those who received less than three days of hospice care (HC) at the end of life compared with those who received three days or more.

Evaluation of Practice Patterns Among Oncologists Participating in the Oncology Care Model.

Importance: Health insurers reimburse clinicians in many ways, including the ubiquitous fee-for-service model and the emergent shared-savings models. Evidence on the effects of these emergent models in oncological treatment remains limited.

Objectives: To analyze the early use and cost associations of a recent Medicare payment program, the Oncology Care Model (OCM), which included a shared savings-like component.

Practice Transformation: Early Impact of the Oncology Care Model on Hospital Admissions.

Purpose: The purpose of the Oncology Care Model (OCM) is to improve quality and reduce cost through practice transformation. A foundational tenant is to reduce avoidable emergency room (ER) visits and hospitalizations. In anticipation of being an OCM participant, we instituted a multidimensional campaign designed to meet these objectives.

Three-Year Results of a Medicare Advantage Cancer Management Program.

Purpose: Reform of cancer care delivery seeks to control costs while improving quality. Texas Oncology collaborated with Aetna to conduct a payer-sponsored program that used evidence-based treatment pathways, a disease management call center, and an introduction to advance care planning to improve patient care and reduce total costs.

Methods: From June 1, 2013, to May 31, 2016, 746 Medicare Advantage patients with nine common cancer diagnoses were enrolled.

Cost differential by site of service for cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.

Objectives: To compare the costs of: 1) chemotherapy treatment across clinical, demographic, and geographic variables; and 2) various cancer care-related cost categories between patients receiving chemotherapy in a community oncology versus a hospital outpatient setting.

Study Design: Data from the calendar years 2008 to 2010 from the Truven Health Analytics MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters Database were analyzed. During 2010, the data set contained approximately 45 million unique commercially insured patients with 70,984 cancer patients receiving chemotherapy.

Opening the black box: the impact of an oncology management program consisting of level I pathways and an outbound nurse call system.

Purpose: The Innovent Oncology Program aims to improve the value of cancer care delivered to patients. McKesson Specialty Health and Texas Oncology (TXO) collaborated with Aetna to launch a pilot program. The study objectives were to evaluate the impact of Innovent on Level I Pathway compliance, implement the Patient Support Services program, and measure the rate and costs associated with chemotherapy-related emergency room (ER) visits and hospital admissions.