Blog

The US Oncology Network recently reached a major milestone of enrolling its 100,000^th patient in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation’s (CMMI) Oncology Care Model (OCM).  This momentous milestone is a result of the hard work and commitment from participating practices dedicated to delivering high-quality patient care.

Since the program’s initiation in 2016, participating practices in The Network have delivered more than $122 million in cumulative savings to Medicare over the program’s first six performance periods (PP), decreased emergency room visits by three percent, reduced hospitalizations by seven percent and increased hospice utilization by five percent. Practices across The Network are performing well in the OCM, and most continue to show improvement each performance period.

How practices in the OCM are enhancing the patient experience and services
Since the inception of the Oncology Care Model, practices have made several enhancements to their operations to improve the patient care before, during and after treatment.

• Enhanced treatment planning and shared decision making at the start of each treatment

Practices in the program utilize a shared decision-making approach to create treatment plans for each patient. Through comprehensive pre-treatment education, patients are informed about potential side effects and key contacts within the practice they can reach out to for concerns.

• Increased support through patient navigation and social work

Patient navigators and social workers play a key role in helping patients access clinic and local community resources. Physicians collaborate with their team of patient care coordinators, nurse navigators and medical assistants to ensure quality patient care is delivered.

• Increased adoption of team-based care and huddles

Practices have adopted team huddles to proactively identify and help at-risk patients. This enables physician teams to provide closer surveillance and schedule a visit focused on goals of care with the practice’s social worker.

• Improved access to care with Call Us First campaigns, proactive high-risk outreach, improved triage, electronic patient reported outcomes, and same day/next morning urgent care access

Practices have increased their availability to provide same day or next day urgent care access to help patients avoid emergency room visits and in close contact with their physicians and care teams.

How The Network supports practices in the OCM
The US Oncology Network remains committed to providing comprehensive, proven resources and support to help practices navigate the OCM and successfully transition to value-based care programs. These resources include industry-leading technologies that drive evidence-based decision-making at the point of care, advanced analytics for optimal data management and reporting, and innovative pharmacy solutions for efficient drug management. The Network also provides practices access to subject matter experts who have deep knowledge in the OCM and value-based care.

Congratulations to value-based care teams across The Network on this significant milestone and thank you for all that you’ve done to support the oncology patients that you serve.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Stuart Staggs, the senior director, strategic programs is responsible for partnering with community oncology practices in The US Oncology Network to support their performance and the adoption of the Oncology Care Model (OCM) and Merit Based Payment System (MIPS).