At the recent American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, a session was held on the first day dedicated to the topic of clinical pathways in oncology. The session, titled “Practicing in the Age of Value-Based Clinical Pathways,” featured a diverse group of speakers who offered different perspectives on the pathways conversation.
The Oncology Practice Perspective
In order to address the oncologist’s perspective on clinical pathways, James N Frame, MD, FACP, Charleston Area Medical Center, talked about some of the concerns that oncology care providers have about using clinical pathways.
Balancing out the provider perspective was Andrew Allan Hertler, MD, FACP, New Century Health, who explained why clinical pathways are increasingly being used by payers as a tool for controlling oncology costs.
Outcomes of a Clinical Pathways Program
J Russel Hoverman, MD, PhD, Texas Oncology, next spoke about the performance of clinical pathways in practice.
Role of Pathways in Payment Reform
The final speaker, Blase N Polite, MD, MPP, The University of Chicago, talked about the importance of clinical pathways within the overall shift towards alternative payment models.
