A Value-based Framework for Drug Cost Support and Funding Programs

Dr Daniel Virnich, President, The Oncology Institute, discusses his presentation on drug cost support and funding programs for patients with cancer from Oncology at Total Health 2022.

Transcript:

My name is Dr. Daniel Virnich. I currently serve as the present of The Oncology Institute, the nation's largest value-based cancer care provider, serving patients across five states.

Please give us a summary of your presentation on drug cost support and funding programs.

My presentation on drug cost support and funding programs really focused on creating awareness for my audience about the incredible challenge that faces the vast majority of patients across the US today when it comes to meeting the financial obligations associated with our cancer care and what we can do in a value-based framework to provide support and assistance for those patients to not just lower their cost of care, but also provide superior clinical outcomes and a better patient experience.

Have any recent updates or developments occurred since your presentation that you'd like to share?

The great thing about oncology is that it is a rapidly advancing field that constantly has new innovations and developments that changed the way that we deliver care. Even since my presentation approximately six months ago, there have been significant advances in the way that we're approaching targeted testing of patients to help further refine and take some of the guesswork out of the cancer therapies that oncologists are delivering to their patients for even the most complex cancer types.

What are your thoughts on the future of payer reimbursement in the oncology space?

My hope for the future of payer reimbursement in the oncology space is that more responsibility and control is given to physician groups like The Oncology Institute who are in the best position to deliver value to patients, not just choosing the most appropriate clinical therapy, but when there are multiple therapies with equal efficaciousness for patients, choosing the most value-based option. Really the best way to achieve that goal is to continue to give more and more financial risk for the total cost of care to provider groups that are providing cancer care for their patients.

Any other final thoughts you'd like to add?

I think that it's a great time to be in the oncology industry from an innovation and the speed at which we're developing new therapies and amazing ways to treat patients and treat previously incurable diseases. I think that we owe it to the US health care system and the patients that we serve to make sure that we always have a value-based framework in mind, and that we're not just choosing the latest and greatest therapies, but also therapies that have the highest likelihood of being delivered to the patient in a financially responsible way. So my hope is that my presentation delivered on that message, and I look forward to continuing awareness on this important topic.