On Friday July 12, 2019, the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) held a webinar to review their proposed plan for the next iteration of the Oncology Care Model (OCM), OCM 2.0. Last month COA announced their full proposal for OCM 2.0, which was submitted to Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee (PTAC). PTAC reviews the physician payment models for Medicare programs.
COA is committed to the OCM as it stands, but they believe that improvements are necessary for the next iteration. The patient experience is at the core of the goal and vision proposed for their OCM 2.0 model. Main components of COA’s OCM 2.0 proposed to serve that goal include working on clinician standards with accreditation, adjusting measures, building on quality and value, and a specific focus on drugs. COA is placing special emphasis on transparency, collaboration, flexibility, efficiency, and open communication.
COA is looking to create universally accepted ideas for high quality cancer care and measures to prove quality that can be used across payers, as well as collaboration on payment methodologies. This presentation reiterated the idea that this proposal is truly focused on creating an oncology payment model that can be used beyond just Medicare.
Managing drugs and their role in promoting value in cancer care was another key focus of the presentation. It can be hard to get everyone to agree to the best system, but COA has already engaged 7 drug companies in their OCM 2.0 proposal to support exploring a value-based agreement directly with providers. COA is also looking at how best to provide more value and quality care to patients with this idea.
As for what is coming next, COA is looking to focus on employer groups for collaboration on new ideas in cancer care. Employers are heavily impacted from cancer care costs and are receptive to joining the conversation. Currently COA is sponsoring a pilot program in Florida that may be used as a model for future commercial insurance reform and payment methodologies.
Final thoughts: COA is a strong supporter of CMS and their oncology payment model. Their OCM 2.0 proposal is hoping to ensure meaningful changes are made to create lasting results so that patients continue to benefit at the core of it all.