Message from the CPC Chair
Pay-for-Performance measures are continuing to take center stage, as leaders in the House, Senate, and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) are promoting initiatives to encourage improved quality of care in all healthcare settings.

One example of this type of measure is the legislation recently introduced by Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-CT), a long-time supporter of the cancer care community. In order to improve healthcare quality, safety and efficiency, the “Medicare Value-Based Purchasing for Physician’s Services Act” would modify the physician payment system by repealing the Sustainable Growth Rate formula and replacing it with a stable and predictable annual update based on changes in the costs of providing care. The legislation also would link annual update payments to a provider’s health care quality and efficiency.

Medicare also is pursuing programs that would tie Medicare payments to quality care.  At ASCO’s Legislative Conference held in late July, CMS Adminstrator Mark McClellan, MD, told the ASCO attendees that CMS would incorporate and promote programs that emphasize prevention, early detection, and appropriate treatment models to increase quality of cancer and avoid unnecessary costs, like the QOPI program mentioned in the section below.

With health care a priority on Capitol Hill, the ASCO policy team continues to work with Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX) and Congressional leaders during the August recess to move House Resolution 261 forward to a vote when Congress convenes after Labor Day.  H Res. 261 commends CMS for creating the one-year oncology demonstration project and urges CMS to extend the demonstration project beyond 2005. 

We hope that ASCO members continue your outreach to your members of Congress, while they are back in your home state.  ASCO will provide ongoing updates to ASCO members as the resolution advances.

Please call ASCO's Cancer Policy & Clinical Affairs Department at 703-299-1050, or email publicpolicy@asco.org if you have any questions.



ASCO Quality Care Initiatives
Dr. McClellan commended ASCO for its leadership in developing the Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI), and cited QOPI as a “model for quality innovation” during ASCO’s Legislative Conference last month.

QOPI, as many of you know from first-hand experience, is ASCO’s nationwide initiative to promote excellence in cancer care by helping practices create a culture of self-examination and improvement.  Twice a year, the staff at participating practices conducts a retrospective review of patient charts.  Following every data collection period, the QOPI system generates a report for each practice comparing practice results to the aggregate.  Clinicians in participating practices use the QOPI data to inform performance improvement efforts.

In the Journal of Clinical Oncology this month, there is an article titled “Developing a System to Assess the Quality of Cancer Care: ASCO’s National Initiative on Cancer Care Quality.”  This article highlights the development of the initiative and discusses the goals, key features, practical challenges and key discussions that lie ahead.

ASCO is pleased with the success of QOPI and looks forward to refining the process and expanding participation to members nationwide. For more information on QOPI, contact ASCO’s Cancer Policy & Clinical Affairs Department at 703-299-1050, or email qopi@asco.org.


Calling All Participants…
Two studies are currently in the works to determine the impact of the MMA on cancer care.

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), an independent federal body that advises Congress on issues affecting the Medicare program, is conducting a report, due January 2006, that will look at the effect of the MMA on patient care and practices.

The Office of the Inspector General also is conducting a study, due in October 2005, to determine whether oncology practices can obtain drugs for their patients at CMS’s current ASP plus 6% reimbursement level.

Oncology practices across the country have been contacted to participate in these studies.  If your practice is chosen to participate, it is extremely important that you provide your information to ensure that the full impact of MMA is represented and measured.

If you have any questions, please call ASCO's Cancer Policy & Clinical Affairs Department at 703-299-1050, or email publicpolicy@asco.org.


News and Notes
CMS has posted responses to vendor questions about the Competitive Acquisition Program (CAP).  Although vendor bidding is temporarily suspended, CMS is still accepting comments on the interim final rule released on July 6.  You may comment on the rule, entitled "Competitive Acquisition of Outpatient Drugs and Biologicals Under Part B" until September 6, by sending a Microsoft Word document to www.cms.hhs.gov/regulations/ecomments.  Please reference CMS-1325-IFC.

The Oncology Nursing Society is urging its members and others in the cancer community to support the 2006 Labor-Health and Human Services and Education spending measure that contains funding for the Nurse Reinvestment Act and other nursing workforce programs at the Health Resources and Services Administration.  An ONS Action Alert outlines the group’s position on the measure.