Bundled Payments for Oncology: Creating Value-Based Episodes of Care

Annual spending for cancer treatment in the U.S. is set to reach $184 billion by 2020. The large and growing bill has raised concerns that fee-for-service payments for oncology are promoting over-treatment and use of more expensive drugs irrespective of patient benefit. With cancer rates projected to rise steeply in the next two decades, this is a critical time to improve efficiency and standardize quality in oncology services, and many see episode-based bundled payments as a promising strategy.

The webinar, hosted by NIHCM Foundation and the Center for American Progress, covered the following topics:

• the latest cost and quality issues in oncology, including missed opportunities in care coordination and end-of-life care
• an overview of the framework for episodic payment bundles developed by a consortium of oncologists, public and private payers, and patient groups
• the use of bundled payments in Medicare, and how CMS might approach reforming payment for oncology services
• a health plan collaboration with a leading oncology provider group to develop episodes of care with an focus on improving quality