Interviews

While adopting new payment models can come with challenges, there are strategies that can help oncology practices optimize their approaches, said Kathy Oubre, MS, CEO of Pontchartrain Cancer Center.

Daniel Ontaneda, MD, PhD, Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) Forum 2024 chair, discussed what attendees can expect at this year's meeting, as well as how the theme of "Breaking Barriers in MS" will be implemented.

Shauna Downs, PhD, MS, is an associate professor in the Department of Health Behavior, Society, and Policy at the Rutgers School of Public Health. A former figure skater, her research now focuses on interventions to promote healthy and sustainable food choices and exploring how our changing climate, food systems, diet, and nutrition are inextricably linked.

In honor of Black History Month, Leesha Ellis-Cox, MD, MPH, sheds light on the racial disparities in mental health care and the prevalence of misdiagnosis.

Population-level data highlight varied risk profiles among patients with indolent systemic mastocytosis (ISM), highlighting the need for individualized treatment approaches, according to Sudipto Mukherjee, MD, PhD, MPH, a physician in the department of hematology and medical oncology at Cleveland Clinic.

In part 2 of our interview with Robinson, he addresses the potential for exacerbated health care disparities in the aftermath of hospital price markups and how insurance plan design often disadvantages the patients who most need expensive infusion therapies but cannot afford them.

Douglas K. Marks, MD, is a breast medical oncologist and director of the Clinical Trials Office, Perlmutter Cancer Center, NYU Langone Hospital—Long Island, as well as associate professor in the Department of Medicine at NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine. As a phase 1 clinical trialist, he sees both patients with breast cancer and those who are looking to receive innovative treatments for their early-stage disease.

Kiana Mehring, MBA, director of strategic partnerships, managed care at Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute, shares her thoughts on future directions in value-based oncology care and research.

In the January issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, James Robinson, PhD, MPH, and his fellow investigators published their findings from an analysis of how insurer drug expenditures on infused drugs influenced price markups at hospitals.

Carrie Kozlowski, OT, MBA, chief operating officer and cofounder of Upfront Healthcare, explains how the company emphasizes personalized engagement to overcome technological, cultural, and social barriers while Medicaid disenrollment rates are increasing.

Expert interviews highlight advancements and challenges in diabetes care technology, including automated insulin delivery systems and continuous glucose monitors, as well as improvements in insurance coverage.

Sudipto Mukherjee, MD, PhD, MPH, hematology and medical oncology, Cleveland Clinic, discusses methods for identifying patients with indolent systemic mastocyctosis (ISM) using health claims data.

"I'll say what I don't think the issue is—it's not technology. We can solve this problem with technology," Carrie Kozlowski, OT, MBA, explains in the interview.

In this interview, Chandler Cortina, MD, MS, FSSO, FACS, Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin, addresses the impact that prioritizing mental health care can have on patients as they navigate through their cancer journey.

Over the past 20 years, Medicare physician pay has plummeted by 26% when adjusted for inflation, while hospital reimbursement has surged by 70%, prompting over 100,000 doctors to abandon independent practice for hospital or corporate employment since 2019.

Camilla Levister, MS, ANP-C, CDCES, a nurse practitioner at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, discusses how closed-loop systems benefit patients managing type 1 diabetes.

Ann LaCasce, MD, MMSc, director of the Dana-Farber/Mass General Brigham Fellowship in Hematology/Oncology and chair of the Lymphoma Research Foundation’s scientific advisory board, discussed the changing lymphoma treatment landscape and highlighted potentially game changing treatments.

Chandler Cortina, MD, MS, FSSO, FACS, is assistant professor of surgery and breast surgical oncologist at Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin. His current research focuses on breast cancer risk not only in general but also among transgender and gender-diverse populations.

Experts explain how diabetes is diagnosed during pregnancy, how treatment differs from that of nonpregnant individuals, the importance of diabetes technology education, and how things change postpartum.

Ann LaCasce, MD, MMSc, director of the Dana-Farber/Mass General Brigham fellowship in hematology/oncology and chair of the Lymphoma Research Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board, discusses T-cell engager therapies in the diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) landscape.

Mark A. Socinski, MD, executive director at AdventHealth Cancer Institute, discusses the importance of lung cancer screening in eligible patients, including the need for primary care providers to ensure screening is being implemented.

Miriam J. Atkins, MD, FACP, president of the Community Oncology Alliance, discusses the impact of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) on health care costs and offers potential ways to remedy certain CMS decisions that negatively affect oncologists and their patients.

A total of 16,430,000 Medicaid enrollees have been disenrolled across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, as of February 1, 2024.

Natasha Halasa, MD, MPH, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), discusses the active population-based surveillance that the New Vaccine Surveillance Network conducts.

Ann LaCasce, MD, MMSc, director of the Dana-Farber/Mass General Brigham Fellowship in Hematology/Oncology and chair of the Lymphoma Research Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board, discusses potential shifts in the lymphoma space in the year ahead.

The newly appointed president and CEO of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions discussed timely issues where we may see progress in 2024.

Bevey Miner, executive vice president of health care strategy and policy, Consensus Cloud Solutions, discusses the complex landscape of proposed health care rules, and the potential impact of CMS' Advancing Interoperability and Prior Authorizations Rule.

Natasha Halasa, MD, MPH, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, discusses her role as principal investigator of the Vanderbilt site of the New Vaccine Surveillance Network.

Mike Brown, vice president of managed services at Cardinal Health, discusses Cardinal Health's goals to to leverage technology, while reducing costs to the health care system.

UnitedHealthcare is incorporating real-world evidence into pathways design and policy formulation, leveraging its members' data to evaluate the impact of different regimens on health resource utilization and costs, explains Lucy Langer, MD, MSHS, national medical director of oncology and genomics at UnitedHealthcare.