From April 12-13, the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) had its annual conference in National Harbor, Maryland. The conference centered on keeping patients and their needs paramount in transforming the US cancer care system. Community oncology practices and allied professionals gathered to gain insights into how to overcome the challenges to patient care that they face on a daily basis. Journal of Clinical Pathways provided on-site coverage of the keynote sessions and other presentations from the clinical, business, pharmacy, and patient advocacy tracks.
Robert M Rifkin, MD, FACP, gave an update on the basics, education, and reimbursement of biosimilars, stating that “this will be a huge year” for the the copycat biologics in the United States.
Debra Patt, MD, MPH, MBA, spoke about the major issues affecting patients with cancer and community practices in the United States.
Lucio N Gordan, MD, shared a variety of data suggesting that the general trend of cancer therapy being moved from the community setting to the hospital outpatient setting has resulted in significant cost increases.
