American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) cancer news
ASCO is seeking stakeholder input on a proposed bundled payment system for oncology practices that the group said would tie payments to quality and cost measures, reduce administrative costs and cover tasks that are uncompensated, like education and counseling by nurses. ASCO is proposing to simplify reimbursement into five bundled payments that would cover new patient visits and monthly payments for treating or actively monitoring patients, with add-on payments for transitioning care or clinical trial participation.
ASCO said bundled payments would "reduce the financial penalty" for prescribing oral rather than IV drugs, as practices would be paid based on months of patient treatment and not "whether the patient received infusions or injections of drugs." Under ASCO's model, oncology practices would continue to receive separate payments for tests and major procedures and reimbursement for drugs purchased for in-office administration. According to ASCO, the proposed system would reduce to 11 from 58 the number of unique billing codes for oncology practices. ...