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"Where California Oncologists Go For Answers!"
A collaborative publication of the
Medical Oncology Association of Southern California, Inc.
and the
Association of Northern California Oncologists, Inc.
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- 5 UC cancer centers collaborate to improve cancer care (California News)
- Share your PBM story with the New York Times (National News)
- ASCO's Leadership Development Program applications due 09/24(Affiliate News)
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California News
- Californians Allied for Patient Protection (CAPP) The Coalition to Protect MICRA, (you know, the coalition that fights for your reduced malpractice premium rates) invite you to join them for an evening reception in honor of Senator Scott Wiener on Monday, September 25th from 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. The reception will be held at the San Francisco Dental Society (2143 Lombard Street, San Francisco, CA).
Please click here to view the invitation. CAPP asks that you share the invitation with your colleagues and encourage them to attend. Please RSVP to Tina de Vere White (tdeverewhite@micra.org). Thank you for your continued support of CAPP.
- The University of California's five cancer centers are joining forces to tackle some of the toughest challenges of a disease that kills 60,000 Californians a year and costs $14 billion in medical care and lost workplace productivity.
The centers, which collectively care for about 1 in 6 of the state's 176,000 new cancer cases each year, plan to share expertise, data and resources to improve cancer care, UC officials announced Monday. The new consortium includes UC Davis, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Irvine and San Diego.
Officials hope the new cancer consortium in California will become a model for others across the United States. The academic centers will work together on several areas of cancer diagnosis and treatment, including development and expansion of clinical trials, and precision medicine, which tailors treatments to specific patients.
Working together, the centers hope to make progress on less common forms of the disease such as pancreatic cancer, which affects a relatively small number of Californians but is highly lethal,
Another goal of the consortium, which includes more than 2,000 UC faculty members, is to provide patients better access to clinical trials and accelerate the development of new drug treatments.
Researchers and clinicians will also take aim at preventable cancers by targeting smoking and other cancer-causing behaviors. And they plan to work with state legislators on policies that could reduce the number of cancer cases statewide and address issues of access, cost and quality.
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- Noridian/JEMAC has posted more updates to its website:
* MLN Connects
Announcements--Hospice Provider Preview Reports Available through September 28; Quality Payment Program: New Resources Available
Claims, Pricers & Codes
--October 2017 Average Sales Price Files Available
Events--Reporting Hospice Quality Data: Tips for Compliance Cell-September 20; PQRS: Feedback Reports and Informal Review Process for PY2016 Results Call-September 26; Physician Compare Call-September 28
Publications--
Transitional Care Management Services Fact Sheet-Reminder; Medicare Home Health Benefit Booklet-Reminder; Medicare Enrollment Resources Educational Tool-Reminder
* Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) LCD-R4
* Flow Cytometry LCD-R8
* Diagnostic and Therapeutic Colonoscopy LCD-R9 and R10
- September Webinars - Register Now
Noridian is hosting free, web-based workshops (webinars). This article includes a listing of this month's webinar topics. Read the complete update
webinars include:
* Basic E and M Common Errors (September 20)
* Recoupment Overpayment Timeline and Payment Options Webinar (September 21)
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- CMS said more work needs to be done to get the word out among providers about MACRA since there are still awareness gaps around the requirements of the law nine months into its rollout. ATTEND the 2017 Clinical Staff, Oncology Billing & Administrator Programs! November 8, 2017- Clinical Staff Program (Nurses, pharmacists, NPP's) and November 9, 2017- Administrators Program and Billers Program, at the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Anaheim Resort, from 8:30am to 12:30pm. Topics to be presented and discussed are: MACRA/MIPS; Pharmacy Standards/USP Regulations; Immunotherapy and Targeted Therapy; Pain Management; A/R & Billing Updates, and more. For more information contact the MOASC office at moasc@moasc.org or 909-985-9061 x1.
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- The Conquer Cancer Foundation of the American Society of Clinical Oncology is now accepting applications for the 2018 Young Investigator Award (YIA). The Association of Northern California Oncologists (ANCO) is funding one 2018 YIA for a qualified northern California applicant, and urges all eligible northern California physicians to apply. The YIA is a one-year, $50,000 grant that provides research funding to promising physicians to support their transition from final years of training to faculty appointment and to encourage and promote quality research in clinical oncology. Applications in all areas of cancer research are accepted from U.S. and international applicants. For 2018, CCF has dedicated funding for the following areas: breast cancer, northern California researchers, global oncology, kidney cancer, lung cancer, pediatric cancer, sarcoma, and supportive care. Other areas of interest include cholangiocarcinoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, gynecological caners, and melanoma. YIA applications opened on July 1 and are due by 11:50PM ET on September 21. Eligibility criteria, award details, and the request for proposals are available on the CCF website (www.conquer.org/YIA). For questions about the YIA or assistance with your application, please e-mail grants@concquer.org.
- The UCSF Stephen and Nancy Grand Multiple Myeloma Initiative invites ANCO members to join them at their annual retreat on October 2 on the UCSF Mission Bay Campus. For more information, contact Cammie Edwards, Program Director, Grant MMTI at cammie.edwards@ucsf.edu.
- Stanford Cancer Center's MDS Center is co-sponsoring the MDS Foundation's Educational Patient-Caregiver Forum on Saturday, October 28. The Forum takes place at 875 Blake Wilbur Drive, Room 2103, Stanford CA 94305 from 9:30AM through 2PM.
- The 18th Multidisciplinary Management of Cancers: A Case-based Approach returns to the Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa on March 16-18, 2018. The meeting is sponsored by the Association of Northern California Oncologists, Stanford Cancer Institute, UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center, and UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. Go to www.multicancers.org to register your interest in receiving registration and housing information when it becomes available in the Fall.
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- COPA (Community Oncology Pharmacists Association) has been heavily involved in the PBM issue for more than a year. In recent months, anger over rising drug costs set off a civil war within the pharmaceutical industry, pitting drug makers against other players in the health care system, including the little-known pharmacy benefits managers that negotiate with drug makers on behalf of insurers, large employers and government health programs.
The New York Times, in collaboration with ProPublica, an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism, will be writing about the rising cost of prescription drugs and how changes in the industry are affecting consumers.
They would like to hear from patients about any difficulties they have had obtaining or paying for prescription drugs. Reporters from The Times and ProPublica may contact you to learn more about your story. Click on this link to share your stories: https://nyti.ms/2tsRrRE.
- Health care organizations took up expected positions to CMS's proposed cuts to hospital 340B drug payments in comments released last week, just in time for the agency's Sept. 11 deadline. In the agency's proposed rule revising certain Medicare payment policies, promulgated in July, hospitals would be paid 22.5% less than the average sales price (ASP) under the 340B program, instead of the 6% above the ASP they are currently paid.
- While California's SB-17 Health care: prescription drug costs, is headed to the governor's desk, it may be the most sweeping effort in the nation to shine a light on drug pricing. The idea behind the law is that if everyone knows when and why prices are rising, political leaders eventually will be more empowered to challenge those increases. Some experts have said, transparency alone is not enough to bring down drug prices, and more extensive changes are needed. Consumer watchdog groups want sweeping changes at the federal level that would reduce spending on drugs, such as allowing Medicare to negotiate prices with drug companies and limiting market exclusivity on certain pharmaceuticals. The California measure would put a spotlight on drug prices from different angles, imposing reporting obligations on both insurers and drug manufacturers. The pharmaceutical industry remains fiercely opposed to the legislation and has vowed to lobby the governor against it.
Under the proposed law, pharmaceutical companies would be required to give state agencies and insurers 60 days' notice if they planned a price increase of more than 16 percent over two years on drugs with a wholesale cost of $40 or higher. And they would have to explain the reasons for the increase. Manufacturers would also have to report the introduction of certain high-priced drugs to market, explain their marketing plans for the product and say if it is an improvement on drugs that are already available.
Health plans would be obliged to report to state regulators on the drugs with the highest annual cost increases and document how much drug spending factored into their premiums.
Bottom of Form
This year, at least two states have passed laws that tackle high drug prices head-on and may have a more immediate effect on consumer costs than the California measure.
Maryland and New York, for example, passed laws this year that use a variety of legal levers to impose financial penalties or require discounts if prices are too high.
Maryland's law empowers the state's attorney general to take legal action if it determines drug manufacturers are "price gouging" on generic drugs. A violation by the company could trigger refunds to consumers and a fine for the manufacturer.
The New York law introduces a drug price cap in the state's Medicaid program and would require rebates on drugs that exceed their limits.
The California bill's author, Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-Covina), said he didn't believe price controls were the right approach. "I still believe in the basic tenet of free enterprise," he said. "The market should play itself out."
But California's bill is more comprehensive in some ways than other states' laws. It requires new reporting in the private and public insurance markets and encompasses generic, brand-name and specialty pharmaceuticals. Other state laws affect only one payer, as in New York, or one subset of drugs, as in Maryland.
Vermont has a transparency measure, passed last year that mandates reporting on a narrower subset of drugs than California's proposal. Nevada's recently passed drug price law requires disclosures from insulin makers.
Hernandez, who chairs the state Senate's health committee, said the California bill could be a national model for drug price policy because transparency works to bring costs down. Consumers across state lines will benefit from California's law, he said.
"I encourage the federal government, especially California's representatives in the U.S. House and Senate, to consider similar legislation as we continue this discussion at a national level," Hernandez said.
- After the federal government banned its agencies from using Kaspersky software, healthcare organizations may steer clear of the Russian security software as well.
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Affiliate Association News
- Applications for ASCO's Leadership Development Program will be accepted through September 24. Through the Program, participants will gain extensive exposure to the roles and mission of ASCO, its Leadership, and the Society's powerful place in developing the future of cancer care. Applicants must have completed their final subspecialty training between 2008 and 2013. Learn more and apply at http://www.asco.org/training-education/professional-development/leadership-development-program.
- Year In Review
, moderated by Neil Love, M.D., is a multi-tumor regional symposia series focused on the application of emerging research
information to the care of patients with common cancers, is scheduled for Saturday, November 18, 2017 at the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica, CA. To register go to www.ResearchToPractice.com/Meetings/YIR2017/CA .
- For the complete updated versions of the NCCN Guidelines, NCCN Guidelines with NCCN Evidence Blocks™, the NCCN Compendium®, the NCCN Biomarkers Compendium®, the NCCN Chemotherapy Order Templates (NCCN Templates®), the NCCN Radiation Therapy Compendium™, and the NCCN Imaging Appropriate Use Criteria (NCCN Imaging AUC™), please visit NCCN.org. Recent updates include:
* acute lymphoblastic leukemia (V3.2017)
* B-cell lymphomas (V4.2017)
* kidney cancer (V1.2018, chemotherapy templates)
* myeloproliferative neoplasms (B2.2018)
* pancreatic adenocarcinoma (V3.2017)
* systemic light chain amyloidosis (V1.2018)
* uterine neoplasms-endometrial carcinoma (V2.2017)
- NCCN has announced that it has instituted Categories of Preference for recommendations within the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology. Initially, Categories of Preference will be published for drugs and biologics within the NCCN Guidelines for Multiple Myeloma. Additional cancer types are forthcoming. The Categories of Preference are preferred intervention, other recommended intervention, and useful in certain circumstances. Learn more about Categories of Preference at
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- AMGEN informs ANCO and MOASC that the United States Food and Drug Administration has approved Mvasi as a biosimilar to Avastin. Mvasi is the first biosimilar approved in the United States for the treatment of cancer and is indicated for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer, non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer, glioblastoma, metastatic renal cell carcinoma, and cervical cancer. Please refer to the package insert for specific indications in each of these diagnoses.
- Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals informs ANCO and MOASC that the United States Food and Drug Administration has approved Aliqopa for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed follicular lymphoma who have received at least two prior systemic therapies.
- Celgene informs ANCO and MOASC that the United States Food and Drug Administration has approved Idhifa for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia with an isocitrate dehydrogenase-2 (IDH2) mutation as detected by an FDA-approved test.
- Genentech BioOncology is hosting an educational dinner program in Sacramento on September 22 at 6PM entitled Tecentriq: Cancer Immunotherapy in Previously Treated Metastatic Non-small Cell Lung Cancer. To register, visit www.medforcereg.com/SGEN8189.
- Puma Biotechnology informs ANCO and MOASC that the United States Food and Drug Administration has approved Nerlynx for extended adjuvant treatment of HER2-positive early stage breast cancer.
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MOASC CALENDAR
Professional Educational Series
November 8-9
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The
Medical Oncology Association of Southern California
(MOASC) is a leading oncology society that advances and protects the ability of cancer patients to obtain, and the ability of the oncology physicians to provide, optimal cancer care. The
Association of Northern California Oncologists
(ANCO) is an association of hematologists/oncologists dedicated to promoting high professional standards of cancer care by providing a forum for the exchange of ideas, data, and knowledge.
The material contained in the
California Oncology Weekly
is intended as general information for ANCO and MOASC members. Because diagnostic, treatment, contracting, coding, and billing decisions should be made on a case-by-case basis, any such information contained in the
California Oncology Weekly
may not apply in any given situation. Members are encouraged to contact their own consultants or advisors to obtain specific advice on matters relating to contracting, coding, and billing. The information contained in
California Oncology Weekly
should not be used as a substitute for such advice.
This publication provides a summary of regulations affecting oncology and its business practices. Reading this newsletter does not substitute for understanding regulations and verifying the validity of every claim. This information is time-sensitive and is subject to change. MOASC or ANCO accepts no liability for any statements or articles herein.
CPT codes are owned and trademarked by the American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.
MOASC: P.O. Box 161, Upland, CA 91785 | P (909) 985-9061 | F (909) 804-5006| www.moasc.org
ANCO: P.O. Box 151109, San Rafael, CA 94915 | P (415) 472-3960 | F (415) 472-3961 | www.anco-online.org
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