Audio CD and written materials of AIS's audioconference on March 20, 2007

Effective Oncology Management Strategies for Health Plans

New drugs and therapies are revolutionizing treatment of cancer patients, but these treatments come at a very large cost to payers — almost $200 billion annually and growing. For most health plans, oncology represents more than 50% of payer costs for pharmaceuticals administered in a physician-office setting. These costs continue to soar, and there are an estimated 650 new and expensive cancer drugs still in the pipeline. But new technologies and market forces have combined to allow health plans to aggressively manage oncology drug costs. Learn how you can design flexible programs to manage out-of-control oncology drug costs.

Sponsored by Atlantic Information Services, Inc., publisher of Specialty Pharmacy News, Drug Benefit News and Managed Care Week.

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The landscape for payers in cancer management is becoming increasingly complex. Expensive new drugs in the pipeline and new government initiatives are forcing health plans to act decisively and quickly. Accompanying the basic treatment of cancer, adjunctive therapies that treat the side effects account for a large percentage of expenditures. And off-label use of oncology drugs compounds the issue as well. A number of market forces are driving the new efforts of managed care organizations to take aggressive steps to manage the costs of chemotherapy and related drugs.

Hear the most promising new health plan strategies for managing oncology costs in ways that don't compromise patient outcomes. You will learn all the details of:

Against a backdrop of great emotional drain on patients and their families, these fast-changing business conditions are demanding that health plans devote increasing attention to oncology management.

 

Speakers

ROBIN U. SMITH, president of Biologics, Inc. A veteran of the pharmaceutical and home infusion industries, Smith launched Biologics Inc. in 1994 after identifying the need for a specialty oncology pharmacy that not only stocked difficult-to-find oncology drugs but also provided clinical monitoring of patients and reimbursement services to patients. As president of the privately held company, she has expanded the role of the first and only specialty oncology pharmacy to serve managed care organizations and employer groups, researchers and manufacturers, growing the company at an annual rate of 30%. Prior to forming Biologics, Smith held senior-level positions in the home infusion and pharmaceutical industries. She recently developed an oncology carve-out program for managed care and employer groups by leveraging the company's relationships with clinicians, patients, payers, researchers and manufacturers for a program that addresses oncology as a disease.

AL HEATON, director of pharmacy at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, is responsible for all facets of the pharmacy benefit program for 2.6 million members. Heaton is a member of many professional associations including the International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research, the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, and currently serves on the Minnesota Department of Human Services Formulary Committee. Previously, Heaton was vice president, health outcomes integration at Prime Therapeutics where he was responsible for directing the company's medical and pharmacy data integration applications and outcomes research, such as retrospective database studies and clinical trials for a wide variety of therapeutic agents.

Moderator: Jayne Hill, director of seminars and professional development at Atlantic Information Services, Inc.

 

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