Effect of Proposed Episode-Based Payment Models on Advanced Radiotherapy Procedures

2020 ◽  
pp. OP.20.00495
Author(s):  
Sanford L. Meeks ◽  
Amish P. Shah ◽  
Gaurav Sood ◽  
Tomas Dvorak ◽  
Omar A. Zeidan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Proton Therapy ◽  
Radiation Oncology ◽  
Fee For Service ◽  
Medicare Reimbursement ◽  
Large Hospital ◽  
Specific Patient ◽  
Payment Model ◽  
Medicare Patients ◽  
Cancer Types ◽  
Radiotherapy Treatment

PURPOSE: An episode-based payment model, the Radiation Oncology Alternative Payment Model (RO-APM), has been proposed for Medicare reimbursement of radiation services provided to oncology patients. RO-APM may have significant impact on reimbursement for specific patient populations. METHODS: This investigation compares historical fee-for-service technical reimbursement estimates at a large hospital-based system to the RO-APM for advanced radiotherapy treatment of specific cancer types. These advanced techniques, stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), online-adaptive SBRT, and proton therapy, were specifically chosen because they are resource intensive and are correspondingly among the most expensive radiation oncology procedures. A total of 203 Medicare patients were analyzed. RESULTS: RO-APM base-rate reimbursements were similar for SRS and were 38%-47% higher for SBRT. The proposed rates were 1%-31% lower for online-adaptive SBRT, and 48%-71% lower for proton therapy. CONCLUSION: These data suggest that the RO-APM may have the desired effect of encouraging shorter courses of radiotherapy, such as SBRT. However, emerging technologies that require large capital and operating investments may see an overall significant reduction in proposed reimbursement.

Disproportionate Negative Impact of the Radiation Oncology Alternative Payment Model on Rural Providers: A Cost Identification Analysis of Medicare Claims

2021 ◽  
pp. OP.21.00330
Author(s):  
Constantine A. Mantz ◽  
Nikhil G. Thaker ◽  
Praveen Pendyala ◽  
Anne Hubbard ◽  
Thomas J. Eichler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radiation Oncology ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Quality Care ◽  
Fee For Service ◽  
Current Form ◽  
Payment Model ◽  
Physician Practices ◽  
Bundled Payments ◽  
Treatment Services ◽  
Rural And Urban

PURPOSE: The Radiation Oncology Alternative Payment Model (APM) is a Medicare demonstration project that will test whether prospective bundled payments to a randomly selected group of physician practices, hospital outpatient departments, and freestanding radiation therapy centers reduce overall expenditures while preserving or enhancing the quality of care for beneficiaries. The Model follows a complicated pricing methodology that blends historical reimbursements for a defined set of services made to professional and technical providers to create a weighted payment average for each of 16 cancer types. These averages are then adjusted by various factors to determine APM payments specific to each participating provider. METHODS: This impact study segregates APM participants into rural and urban groups and analyzes the effect of the Radiation Oncology Alternative Payment Model on their fee-for-service reimbursements. RESULTS: The main findings of this study are (1) the greater net-negative revenue impact on rural facilities versus urban facilities that would have participated in the Model this year and (2) the relative lack of high-value treatment services (ie, stereotactic radiotherapy and brachytherapy) delivered by rural facilities that exacerbates their negative impact. CONCLUSION: As such, rural providers participating in the Model in its current form may face greater risk to their economic viability and greater difficulty in funding technology improvements necessary for the achievement of high-quality care compared with their urban counterparts.

scholarly journals Impact of Radiation Oncology Alternative Payment Model on Community Cancer Centers

2021 ◽  
pp. OP.21.00298
Author(s):  
Sanford L. Meeks ◽  
Ryan Mathews ◽  
Jennifer Mojica ◽  
Amish P. Shah ◽  
Patrick Kelly ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sensitivity Analysis ◽  
Radiation Oncology ◽  
Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy ◽  
Community Practice ◽  
Medicare Reimbursement ◽  
Community Centers ◽  
Payment Model ◽  
Base Rates ◽  
Treatment Techniques ◽  
Medicare Data

PURPOSE: An episode-based payment model, the Radiation Oncology Alternative Payment Model (RO-APM), is scheduled to go into effect in January 2022. This article investigates the effects of RO-APM on hospital-based and freestanding community centers. METHODS: Historical Medicare data used to generate the RO-APM base rates were reviewed. A sensitivity analysis was performed to show how the RO-APM reimbursements compare with current reimbursements for commonly accepted treatment schedules and with current reimbursements at a large community practice. RESULTS: The RO-APM base rates represent a 2.2% decrease in overall Medicare reimbursement. Freestanding centers have historically billed at higher rates than hospital-based centers, however, and the RO-APM base rates represent a 6% decrease in global reimbursement for freestanding centers. The sensitivity analysis showed that, except for proton therapy, moderately hypofractionated treatment schedules will receive comparable reimbursement under RO-APM. Treatments using higher numbers of fractions of intensity-modulated radiation therapy or protons will see larger decreases in reimbursement. Application of the RO-APM base rates to the 2020 Medicare treatments in our health care network would result in small changes in expected reimbursement, but our sensitivity analysis indicated that Medicare reimbursement reductions could be as large as 23%. CONCLUSION: Compared with historical Medicare reimbursement, RO-APM base rates provide lower reimbursement for many common treatment scenarios, and this will have a larger effect on centers that use complex treatment techniques and longer fractionation schedules or have a large Medicare population.

scholarly journals Circulating Cell-Free DNA in Liquid Biopsies as Potential Biomarker for Bladder Cancer: A Review

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1448
Author(s):  
Raquel Herranz ◽  
Julia Oto ◽  
Emma Plana ◽  
Álvaro Fernández-Pardo ◽  
Fernando Cana ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bladder Cancer ◽  
Cancer Progression ◽  
Specific Treatment ◽  
Predictive Biomarkers ◽  
Liquid Biopsies ◽  
Cell Free Dna ◽  
Specific Patient ◽  
Free Dna ◽  
Potential Biomarker ◽  
Cancer Types

Bladder cancer (BC) is among the most frequent cancer types in the world and is the most lethal urological malignancy. Presently, diagnostic and follow-up methods for BC are expensive and invasive. Thus, the identification of novel predictive biomarkers for diagnosis, progression, and prognosis of BC is of paramount importance. To date, several studies have evidenced that cell-free DNA (cfDNA) found in liquid biopsies such as blood and urine may play a role in the particular scenario of urologic tumors, and its analysis may improve BC diagnosis report about cancer progression or even evaluate the effectiveness of a specific treatment or anticipate whether a treatment would be useful for a specific patient depending on the tumor characteristics. In the present review, we have summarized the up-to-date studies evaluating the value of cfDNA as potential diagnostic, prognostic, or monitoring biomarker for BC in several biofluids.

Abstract 15: Trends in Performance and Outcomes of Carotid Endarterectomy Among Elderly Medicare Beneficiaries, 2003-2010

Stroke ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 47 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith H Lichtman ◽  
Michael R Jones ◽  
Alice J Sheffet ◽  
George Howard ◽  
Yun Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carotid Endarterectomy ◽  
Mixed Model ◽  
Patient Characteristics ◽  
Annual Number ◽  
Fee For Service ◽  
Medicare Beneficiaries ◽  
Hospital Level ◽  
Medicare Patients ◽  
Annual Reduction ◽  
Service Data

Background: Carotid endarterectomy (CEA) is the leading procedure for carotid stenosis, yet national data on trends in rates and outcomes are limited. We determined CEA rates among Medicare beneficiaries and evaluated mortality and readmission over 8 years. Methods: We used Medicare fee-for-service data to identify beneficiaries aged ≥65y who had their first CEA (ICD-9 38.12) from 2003-2010 and calculated annual rates per 100,000 person-years (PY). We fit mixed models to assess trends in patient-level outcomes, adjusting for demographics, comorbidities, and symptomatic status. We also evaluated hospital-level trends by calculating risk-standardized mortality (RSMR) and readmission (RSRR) rates. A spatial mixed model adjusted for age, sex, and race was fit to calculate county-specific risk-standardized CEA rates in 2003-2004. Results: There were 505,966 unique CEA hospitalizations. The annual number of CEA discharges decreased from 81,604 in 2003 to 47,597 in 2010 (42% decrease), though the patient characteristics remained largely similar. The national CEA rate was 283 per 100,000 PY in 2003, and there was considerable geographic variability (Figure A). This rate decreased each year to a low of 172 per 100,000 PY in 2010. The rate of stroke or death within 30 days decreased from 3.2 to 2.7%, with a significant adjusted annual reduction of 3% (Figure B). Annual reductions in other short- and long-term outcomes were similar, ranging from 2-3%. The median hospital-level 30-day RSMR decreased over time from 0.99 to 0.57%, while the variation between hospitals increased (interquartile range of 0.7-1.67 percentage points). The 30-day RSRR decreased from 11.0 to 10.1%, but there was more homogeneity across hospitals and years. Conclusions: CEA use among Medicare patients decreased dramatically from 2003-2010, while mortality and readmission outcomes improved. The relative importance of biological and sociological mechanisms for these trends merits further study.

scholarly journals ACTIVE INVOLVEMENT OF RADIOLOGIST IN RADIATION ONCOLOGY PRACTICE

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 3199-3201
Author(s):  
Anurag A. Luharia
Keyword(s):  
Radiation Oncology ◽  
Normal Tissue ◽  
Radiation Treatment ◽  
Imaging Modality ◽  
Tumour Volume ◽  
Target Volume ◽  
Ct Images ◽  
Radiotherapy Planning ◽  
Internal Target Volume ◽  
Radiotherapy Treatment

Advancements in Radiation Oncology from conventional to 3D conformal radiotherapy treatment demands expertise in many steps of radiation planning, the horizon of radiologist is now expanded by many folds and made radiologist as a integral part of the Radiation Oncology Department. A critical aspect of radiotherapy treatment planning (RTP) is determining how to deliver the required radiation dosage to cancer cells while minimising the exposure to normal tissue for which the prerequisite is identification and accurate delineation of tumour volume as well as normal structure resulted in an increase in the therapeutic ratio by reducing complication associated with normal tissue and allowing for higher target dosage and better local control. In modern radiotherapy CT images are the standard set of imaging modality required for the radiotherapy planning along with it many other modalities like MRI, PET or DSA are used by superimposing on original CT images in order to contour or delineate the structures defined by International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements in Reports 50, 62 and 71 (ICRU) for radiotherapy planning which comprise of Gross tumour volume, clinical target volume, planning target volume, irradiated volume, Internal target volume and the normal structures as Organ at risk. It is self-evident that the contribution of a radiologist with a thorough knowledge of the development of these new modalities is critical for optimising the potential of these novel modes of radiation treatment delivery.

scholarly journals Long-term outcomes of proton therapy for prostate cancer in Japan: a multi-institutional survey of the Japanese Radiation Oncology Study Group

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 677-689 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiromitsu Iwata ◽  
Hitoshi Ishikawa ◽  
Masaru Takagi ◽  
Tomoaki Okimoto ◽  
Sigeyuki Murayama ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prostate Cancer ◽  
Proton Therapy ◽  
Radiation Oncology ◽  
Study Group ◽  
Long Term Outcomes

Impact of the Radiation Oncology Alternative Payment Model on Brachytherapy Reimbursement

Brachytherapy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikhil G. Thaker ◽  
Rehman Meghani ◽  
Cassandra Wilson ◽  
Jody Garey ◽  
Philip Nelson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radiation Oncology ◽  
Payment Model
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