BioCentury
ARTICLE | Strategy

Reforming oncology

ASCO, payers taking different paths to cancer payment reform

June 2, 2014 7:00 AM UTC

The American Society of Clinical Oncology has made drug prices and value a centerpiece of its annual meeting this week, but its newly unveiled payment model doesn't yet address how physician practices actually should be paid for drugs. Instead, payers are the ones taking the lead on new models that remove or lessen incentives to prescribe IV drugs to boost oncologist profits.

On May 5, ASCO proposed a payment model that includes five different bundled payments that are intended to compensate doctors for services they currently provide but aren't reimbursed for, such as financial and nutritional counseling and phone calls with patients to address drug side effects...