Gail Thompson

Authored Items

Preparing to Implement MACRA: Implications for Oncology Practices

June 2017, Vol 7, No 6 - 2017 Cancer Center Business Summit Highlights

Las Vegas, NV—Death and taxes are inevitable, and so are the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) changes for all medical practices across the country, (not just for oncology). Practices may choose how far to dip their toes into MACRA or into the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) waters, but they will be penalized, rewarded, or not affected in 2019 based on their decisions in 2017. Strategic planning for practices often spans 3 to 5 years; there is a very real financial component that affects oncology practices’ billing and revenues 2 years out and beyond. [ Read More ]

Operational and Cultural Changes in Oncology: Are You Paying Attention to Your Teams?

April 2017, Vol 7, No 4 - Cancer Center Business Summit

“Change creates angst: it creates pressures, it creates employee dissatisfaction, it creates environments that most medical practices aren’t used to participating in,” said Erich Mounce, MSHS, Chief Executive Officer, West Cancer Center, Memphis, TN, in his introduction to an intriguing panel discussion titled “Operational & Cultural Change” at the 2017 Cancer Center Business Summit (CCBS). [ Read More ]

Tools to Improve Patient Engagement in Value-Based Care

March 2017, Vol 7, No 3 - Cancer Center Business Summit

With the advent of a shift to value-based care and increasing accountability for effective care, patient engagement is emerging as the primary mechanism to effect change. However, the sheer volume of patients means that physicians and nurses cannot hope to touch them every day in the meaningful ways needed to fully engage each patient. Technology solutions must rise to the occasion. [ Read More ]

Shifting Targets for Providers, Payers, and Patients with Cancer: Perspectives in Healthcare Reform

March 2017, Vol 7, No 3 - Cancer Center Business Summit

A panel discussion at the 2017 Cancer Center Business Summit revealed continuing gaps in the evolution of healthcare reform among providers, payers, and patients with cancer. Michael Kolodziej, MD, National Medical Director, Managed Care Strategy, Flatiron Health, New York, NY—an oncologist with experience on the provider and the payer sides—moderated the panel discussion, which offered perspectives from the trenches on healthcare reform. [ Read More ]

How Washington Is Shaping a New Healthcare Reform

March 2017, Vol 7, No 3 - Cancer Center Business Summit

Former Senator Bill Frist, MD, opened the 2017 Cancer Center Business Summit in Las Vegas, NV, in early February, with a smile and a warning that we are in unfamiliar territory as the new Congress and the new administration move into 2017, territory that may occur only 2 or 3 times in a century. He said that, “For the first time since 1929, the GOP [the Republican Party] controls Congress, the White House, most governorships and state houses, as well as the Supreme Court.” [ Read More ]