Provider and patient insights into the cancer care journey

• Published in: The American journal of managed care 2022-07, Vol.28 (7), p.314-320
• Main Authors: McLarty, Sarah, Johnson, Kjel A, Francis, E Ann, Johlie, Melissa, Sawicki, Christine, Avalos-Reyes, Elisea
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Advance directives; Alliances; Cancer; Cancer therapies; Continuity of care; Health care expenditures; Health care networks; Health care policy; Medical diagnosis; Oncology; Patients; Planning; Primary care; Value-based care
• ISSN: 1088-0224; 1936-2692
• DOI: 10.37765/ajmc.2022.89178

A survey was conducted to determine what tools and programs may be necessary to aid in difficult decisions, assess provider attitudes toward alternative payment models, and determine the desired level of involvement for a primary care provider (PCP). * PCPs typically refer patients with cancer to oncologists within their health system, but PCPs and patients would be interested in using a tool to help select an oncologist. * Advance care planning is most appropriate to talk about at the time of cancer diagnosis; however, less than 50% of patients have such plans in place. _____ The CDC reported 1.7 million new US cancer diagnoses in 2019; this number is expected to increase to 2.3 million by 2030.1 Health care stakeholders must strive to optimize the patient and provider experience surrounding a patient's cancer care journey, as well as the quality and cost of care. In value-based care, payment corresponds to (or is commensurate with) the quality of the care provided.7 An example of value-based care is the Oncology Care Model developed by CMS, which moved provider reimbursement from simple fee-for-service toward a quality-based approach.8 Value drivers of this program include access to and continuity of care throughout all stages of cancer, including survivorship and end-of-life care, care coordination, care planning and management, patient and caregiver engagement, and team-based care.9 Critics of this approach are concerned that providers may be inappropriately assigned accountability for services out of their control; this would financially penalize providers for treating patients with complex health problems and fail to provide actionable information that hospitals need to identify opportunities to control health care spending without harming patients.10 Additionally, there is pressure to develop new, innovative treatment options to treat cancer. The surveys were administered by a third-party market research supplier (participants were not aware who was conducting the survey) and included multiple-choice and free-response questions. Data Analysis PCP and patient data were analyzed separately; descriptive statistics were used to characterize PCP demographics, practice characteristics, and role involvement, as well as patient characteristics and demographics.