Joseph S. Bailes, MD, Chair, ASCO Government Relations Council
ASCO President Speaks at NCAB about Health Care Challenges, Future Directions
ASCO President Douglas W. Blayney, MD, spoke at a meeting of NCI’s National Cancer Advisory Board about the challenges facing the U.S. research and health care systems and how innovative approaches and collaborations may offer solutions.
ASCO Signs Letter Urging Senate to Replace SGR Formula with New Medicare Physician Payment System
The letter urges Senators to ensure that any health system reform legislation passed by Congress includes provisions to replace the flawed sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula with a new Medicare physician payment system.
Update on Sen. Baucus Health Care Reform Legislation
The Senate Finance Committee is marking up comprehensive health care reform legislation introduced September 16 by Committee Chair Sen. Max Baucus. The committee may vote on the legislation this week.
House Passes Continuing Resolution to Maintain Funding for Federal Programs
The House Appropriations Committee passed a stop-gap spending measure to fund federal programs for an additional 30 days beyond the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.
ASCO and ONS Publish Chemotherapy Administration Safety Standards
ASCO and ONS have released the first-ever set of national, consensus-driven standards to guide oncologists in the safe administration of chemotherapy to adult patients in the outpatient setting.
ASCO President Speaks at NCAB about Health Care Challenges, Future Directions
ASCO President Douglas W. Blayney, MD, spoke on behalf of ASCO at a September 15 meeting of the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB), about the challenges facing the U.S. research and health care systems. Dr. Blayney recommended areas where NCAB could focus its attention to help promote innovative solutions and effective partnerships in the research community.
Dr. Blayney reviewed challenges in health care, including the current national debate on health care reform, to highlight concern about Americans who lack health insurance, growth in health care spending, and the need to find cost savings.
In his presentation, Dr. Blayney encouraged the NCAB to focus on four areas and encourage NCI to:
- Enhance support for clinical trials
- Explore and enhance innovative training partnerships
- Increase efforts to harmonize federal regulatory requirements for research
- Leverage existing data collection projects
In August 2009, ASCO worked with the NCI Cooperative Groups to poll research sites about their future plans for participation in federally funded clinical trials. Of the 478 sites that responded, 32 percent have decided to limit participation in the Cooperative Group system, and an addition 8 percent are considering limitations. Dr. Blayney stressed that the primary reason sites are limiting participation is the inadequate NCI per-case reimbursement. Dr. Blayney stressed that NCI-funded clinical trials are important because they are unbiased in design, produce practice-changing results, make trials available in the community setting, and address rare cancer types or subpopulations. Decisions to limit participation in NCI-funded trials may ultimately negatively impact access and importance scientific results.
A copy of
Dr. Blayney’s PowerPoint presentation to the NCAB is available online. For more information, contact ASCO’s Cancer Policy & Clinical Affairs Department, at 571-485-1670 or
cancerresearch@asco.org.
ASCO Signs Letter Urging Senate to Replace SGR Formula with New Medicare Physician Payment System
ASCO signed a September 18
letter urging Senators to ensure that any health system reform legislation passed by Congress includes provisions to replace the flawed sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula with a new Medicare physician payment system.
The letter, circulated by the American Medical Association and signed by more than 120 organizations, stated that Congress should eliminate the SGR altogether, rather than continually implement stop-gap measures that temporarily stave off harmful cuts. This year, for example, physicians face a payment cut of over 21 percent on January 1, 2010.
A new Medicare physician payment system is essential for establishing a stable foundation for new payment models and delivery reforms, the letter states. ASCO and the other signatories urge the Senate to consider initiatives to improve care coordination, promote primary care and preventive services, and encourage wellness initiatives, stating that these will ultimately generate system-wide savings by avoiding patient hospitalizations and other costly interventions.
For more information, contact ASCO’s Cancer Policy & Clinical Affairs Department, at 571-483-1670 or
publicpolicy@asco.org.
Update on Sen. Baucus Health Care Reform Legislation
The Senate Finance Committee has spent several days considering comprehensive health care reform
legislation. The bill was introduced September 16 by Committee Chair Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), without the anticipated bipartisan support. The Committee may vote on the legislation, the America’s Health Future Act, this week.
Sen. Baucus’ stated goals for the legislation include improved quality of care, increase efficiency within the health care system and lower health care costs. The bill would shift incentives in Medicare to reward better care, not just more care; encourage all of a patient’s doctors to coordinate care and reduce duplication and waste; and create incentives for health care providers to improve quality by using safer, more cost effective health technology like electronic medical records, among other tactics.
The bill would also set up an "Innovation Center" within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to test new approaches to promoting quality, achieving cost savings and paying providers through demonstration projects. One proposed demonstration for this Center aligning evidence-based guidelines of cancer care with Medicare payment incentives for treatment planning and follow-up care planning for Medicare beneficiaries. A summary of the bill can be found on
ASCO’s Grassroots Action Center.
ASCO is disappointed that this bill would not permanently fix the flawed SGR issue that is the basis for annually scheduled deep cuts for physician payments. Instead, this bill would provide a nominal one-year fix. ASCO will continue to advocate for a permanent fix to this issue to prevent future uncertainty.
ASCO is meeting with policy makers about all of the health reform efforts in Congress and will continue to keep you up to date on the latest activities. For more information, contact ASCO’s Cancer Policy & Clinical Affairs Department at 571-483-1354 or
publicpolicy@asco.org.
House Passes Continuing Resolution to Maintain Funding for Federal Programs
On September 25, the House of Representatives passed a stop-gap spending measure to fund federal programs for an additional 30 days beyond the end of the fiscal year, on September 30. The Senate is expected to consider the legislation this week. If the bill passes, NIH and NCI will be operating at FY 2009 levels through October.
If the Labor-HHS bill does not pass by the end of October, another continuing resolution will be needed to maintain funding for federal programs beyond that point.
ASCO will continue to provide updates as they occur. For more information, contact ASCO’s Cancer Policy & Clinical Affairs Department, at 571-483-1670 or
publicpolicy@asco.org.
ASCO and ONS Publish Chemotherapy Administration Safety Standards
ASCO and the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS) have released the first-ever set of national, consensus-driven
standards to guide oncologists in the safe administration of chemotherapy to adult patients in the outpatient setting.
The standards, being published online today in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, are intended to reduce the risk of errors when providing patients with chemotherapy and provide a framework for best practices in cancer care.
The 31 standards cover a range of processes related to chemotherapy, including:
- Staff education and training
- Chemotherapy ordering, preparation and administration
- Patient education and informed consent
- Assessing how patients respond to treatment
- Monitoring toxicity of the treatment to the patient
These standards, which are applicable to all outpatient oncology settings, are voluntary but represent consensus among a broad range of stakeholders.
ASCO and ONS recognize that not all practices will be able to achieve all of the standards immediately after they are published. ASCO has developed an online
guide to help oncology practices review and develop policies and procedures needed to adhere to these chemotherapy safety standards.
For more information about the chemotherapy safety standards, contact ASCO’s Cancer Policy & Clinical Affairs Department, at 571-483-1670 or
cancerquality@asco.org.
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News and Notes
Participate in QOPI and the QOPI Certification Program
The fall Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) data collection program opened September 24. Currently, more than 510 practices are eligible to participate, and the fall data reports will be first that document whether practices meet the measure scoring requirements for ASCO’s QOPI Certification. The QOPI Certification Program will certify oncology practices that achieve rigorous, oncologist-defined standards for high-quality cancer care. Details about the Certification Program, including an introductory presentation and participation guide and, are available online. Visit
http://qopi.asco.org/certification or email
qopicertification@asco.org for more information.
CMS Publishes 4th Quarter ASP Files
CMS has published the average sales price (ASP) files for the fourth quarter of 2009. The pricing file can be viewed or downloaded from the
CMS Web site. The prices published are effective October 1 through December 31.
CMS Hosts National Call on PQRI
CMS hosted a national call on the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) September 17. CMS staff provided an update on the 2007 re-run of PQRI data/claims and the 2008 program and noted that the reports for 2007 and 2008 will both be available near the end of October. Staff clarified that professionals who are eligible for an incentive payment with the re-run of the 2007 data should expect their incentives in November. Incentive payments for the 2008 program should be available in October. Call materials are available for review or download from the
CMS Web site.
New Edition of Practical Tips for the Oncology Practice
Practical Tips for the Oncology Practice, 5th Edition is the premier resource for oncology practices. This publication provides guidance on coding, billing and coverage of oncology-related services and outlines the laws and regulations that affect an oncology practice. Practical Tips contains explanations of many Medicare initiatives and provides excerpts from Medicare manuals. This resource is a must-have for oncology practices. Order yours online at
www.asco.org/practicaltips, or call ASCO’s Customer Service hotline at 888-273-3508.
Join ASCO's Advocacy Network
Advocacy is most effective when Members of Congress and government agencies hear from you, their constituents. By participating in ASCO's Advocacy Network, you will develop ongoing relationships with your legislators while helping ASCO raise awareness on important cancer issues. To join the Advocacy Network, visit
ASCO's Grassroots Action Center.
