Managed care & medical oncology: the focus is on value

A previous NCCN Oncology Insights Reportdescribed the factors making cancer care a priority for managed care organizations (MCOs) and emerging trends in managing costs of cancer care. To better understand the concerns of MCOs and how they are addressing cancer costs and quality, NCCN interviewed senior physician executives from the 3 largest payors in the United States. The interviews provided insights into how these companies managed oncology care, with an emphasis on drugs and biologics. As a follow-up to the previous report, NCCN conducted additional interviews with medical executives from 10 MCOs between February and April 2010. The organizations represented in these interviews were Aetna, BlueCross BlueShield of Minnesota, BlueShield of Michigan, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, Empire BlueCross BlueShield, HealthNow, Humana, Independence BlueCross, Priority Health, and UnitedHealthcare. Although this group is diverse, it does not constitute a representative cross-section of MCOs across the United States. NCCN interviewed these executives about the priority of cancer care management for their organizations and the strategies being used to address cost and quality of cancer care. The information garnered from these interviews was qualitative in nature. A separate quantitative analysis of trends in oncology managed care has already been published, and throughout this report, data from the 2009-2010 Genentech Oncology Trend Report are referenced to supplement findings from the NCCN interviews.