Association for Value-Based Cancer Care

And now for a little Friday fun! One of the highlights of the annual #AVBCC Summit are the posters created by visual note-taking genius Emma Wimberley from Ink Factory Studio. We invite you to take a moment and enjoy this great time-lapse video of Emma at work during our 15th Annual AVBCC Educational Summit & Program. #Illustration #HealthCareConference #Value #Innovation

As cancer organizations strive to provide comprehensive support to patients and their families, understanding the landscape of financial advocacy services becomes increasingly vital. We're looking back to this insightful session at AVBCC’s 15th Annual Summit which provided attendees with the knowledge and tools necessary to elevate these important services. The Friday morning discussion featured Rifeta Kajdić Hodžić, CHPM, Senior Program Manager, Education Programs, Association of Cancer Care Centers (ACCC); Angie S.(Santiago), Oncology, Senior Business Manager at Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Jefferson Health; Stephanie Broadnax Broussard DSW, LCSW-S, APHSW-C, Director of Social Work, Thyme Care; Christine Verini, RPh, CEO, CancerCare; and Israel (Srulik) Dvorsky, Co-Founder & CEO, TailorMed. It was moderated by Anabella Aspiras, Senior Director, Development & Strategy, PAN Foundation. Hodžić began by introducing the newly released Financial Advocacy Services Assessment Tool, a resource designed by the Association of Cancer Care Centers to help cancer organizations identify gaps in their current services, uncover opportunities for improvement, and strategize for implementation. “I think it’s going to help you go a long way on how you get ahead of the challenges before they become more barriers and cause more treatment delays for patients,” she said, especially in regards to the changing healthcare landscape. Proactivity was a key takeaway from this session. “Financial advocacy is meant to be part of the care, not a reactive thing,” said Santiago. Broussard shared how Thyme Care screens for financial toxicity to help patients strategize how to address their needs and identify opportunities for financial assistance that they might not be aware of, thereby relieving the emotional burden of financial toxicity, and improving health outcomes. When it comes to the obstacles that are preventing services from reaching the patients that most need them, Verini explained how staffing and finances cause difficulties. She said she overcomes these challenges through fundraising, advocacy, and education . All the panelists emphasized the need to empower patients. They also agreed that patient voices play a key role in showing the value of financial advocacy services to health systems. Dovorsky discussed how technology can not only help track and demonstrate the ROI of financial advocacy services, but also allow patients to take actions (such as enrolling in benefits) on their own. “I’m optimistic about the fact that with technology, you can not only empower care teams but also extend the care team to the fingertips of patients,” he said. Overall, the panel truly highlighted the value of financial advocacy services and the countless benefits it has for patients. #AVBCC #AVBCC2025 #HealthcareMeeting #FinancialAdvocacyServices

The “Community Oncology: Crystal Ball or Clear Path” panel during Day 3 of ABVCC’s 15th Annual Summit looked into the future of community oncology and the implications of the Inflation Reduction Act. The panelists were Barbara McAneny, MD, Past President, American Medical Association; CEO, New Mexico Cancer Center; Nicolas Ferreyros, Managing Director Policy and Advocacy and Communications, COA; Michael Seiden MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer, NPower Medicines; Leslie Busby, MD, Chief Medical Officer, US Oncology; and Jeffrey Scott, MD, VP & Chief Medical Officer, Integra Connect. Maddi Davidson, Principal of Market Access, Avalere, served as the moderator. Their discussion began with the future of drug economics and the drug margin. While Dr. McAneny said that she thinks it’s time to move off the drug margin, there needs to be something else in its place. Dr. Busby says that he doesn’t see the drug margin going away, but he believes that there’s going to be more pressure on it. They described what practices are doing to increase revenue streams, with Dr. Seiden highlighting the benefits of clinical research. He noted that pharmaceutical companies are “interested in unlocking the potential of community-accelerated drug development,” and he sees it as a means to “build an alternative revenue stream in the event that drug economics change dramatically.” The panel also touched upon medically integrated dispensing and ways to help bring more clinical trials to the community. As they looked toward the future, the panelists discussed how to go about improving the outlook for community oncology. Ferreyors encouraged advocacy and emphasized the importance of having a seat at the table for policy-making. He pointed out the benefits of engaging on the state level where “you can build those relationships, show them what is happening, and show them the value,” while noting the constraints of federal law. Dr. Busby added the benefit of providers being involved in advocacy as well. As for value-based care, many of the panelists believed that oncology is changing too quickly and that it’s going to be too difficult to build a model for it. Between the latest innovations in care and IRA altering the landscape, change is constantly on the horizon for community oncology—but one thing’s for certain, challenges will continue to arise and the solutions will not be simple. “We have to avoid the simplistic solution to a very complex system,” warned Dr. McAneny. “But we are going to have to restructure where the money goes in healthcare.” #AVBCC #AVBCC2025 #HealthcareMeeting #Oncology #CommunityOncology

We're looking back to Day 3 of AVBCC’s 15th Annual Summit, which kicked off with a session on “How to Improve Payer and Provider Collaboration.” The panel featured Lucy Ruwitch Langer, MS, MD, National Medical Director, Oncology and Genomics, UnitedHealthcare; Rhonda Henschel, MBA, SVP, Payer and Care Transformation, McKesson; Daniel Virnich, MD, MBA, FACHE, The Oncology Institute for Hope and Innovation; and Christopher Windham, MD, MHCM, MPHM, FACS FSSO, Physician Executive National Operations, Lumeris. It was moderated by Michael Kolodziej, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Canopy. The session began with each of the panelists discussing the best value-based agreement they’ve seen or been a part of. A common thread throughout their experiences was that all parties were willing to collaborate and be solution-oriented. “Oftentimes you think of health plans and providers kind of in two separate buckets, but the reality is that smaller plans can use provider support to help their own operations,” said Dr. Virnich. “You have to have provider collaboration to actually make sure that the patients are getting the right treatment at the right time in the right place,” said Henschel. They also discussed the impediments to collaboration. Dr. Langer explained, “there’s such an inherent trust issue between payers and providers that even when we sit down with people who we inherently trust deeply and have performed well on contracts in the past, those negotiations are very challenging.” The need for sophistication was another main topic of conversation. Panelists discussed how data and sophistication on their own are not as valuable as how the data is used and the ability to scale a sophisticated model. “Just because you’re a large organization, it doesn’t mean you have the sophistication around value-based contracts, around understanding how that works and structuring it,” said Dr. Langer. Dr. Kolodziej also posed questions about whether there’s a need for downside risk in these agreements and if third party intermediaries taking on the risk on behalf of practices is the future of oncology, which received varied responses from the panelists. By addressing the tension between payers and providers, the insightful session left attendees with a better understanding of each side and ways to move toward improvements. #AVBCC #AVBCC2025 #HealthcareMeeting #PayerAndProviderCollaboration

What a great way to mark this milestone 15th year of AVBCC’s Annual Summit! Thank you to our faculty, sponsors, and guests for your support and insight. This conference wouldn't be possible without you. Be sure to follow us on LinkedIn for more recaps, updates, and thought leadership. We look forward to seeing you next year and stay tuned for some exciting things to come in 2026! #AVBCC2025 #Cancer #ValueBasedCancerCare #HealthcareLeaders #OncologyCare #HealthcarePolicy #ValueBasedCare #AVBCC #OncologySummit #HealthcareConference

While friction exists between the PBM industry and oncology providers, at the end of the day, both sides want to cooperate and operate in the best interests of the patient. A panel of industry experts came together to find common ground during Day Two of AVBCC’s 15th Annual Educational Summit & Program. The panelists for “PBMs and Providers Sandbox: Round 2” were George Van Antwerp, MBA, SVP, Product Innovation and Strategic Planning, Prime Therapeutics; Debra Patt, MD PhD MBA, Executive Vice President, Policy and Strategic Initiatives, Texas Oncology; Barbara McAneny, MD, Past President, American Medical Association; CEO, New Mexico Cancer Center; Sunil Budhrani, MD, MPH, MBA; Chief Innovation and Medical Officer, Capital Rx. Michael Kolodziej, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Canopy, served as the moderator. Although they represented the PBM side of this debate, both Van Antwerp and Dr. Budhrani argued that while PBMs originally did have value in negotiating drug rates, conflicts of interest and vertical integration that never delivered on its promise have caused them to stray from their intended purpose. Van Antwerp highlighted the need to bring focus back to the consumer. “I think we in some of the big companies lose sight of the complexity of being a patient.” Both discussed the benefits of integrating pharmacy and medical into one platform, but they acknowledged that this multifaceted issue requires more than one solution in order to truly reform the current system. On the opposing side, Dr. Patt spoke about how she has seen a lot of delays, waste, lack of communication, and challenges to access caused by PBMs. She discussed how vertical integration is driving this behavior and urged for increased transparency. “There’s a lot of arbitrage happening and it’s not clear where it’s happening. Transparency breeds favorable policy intervention,” she said. Dr. McAneny agreed, stating “The machinations of the insurance industry hooked with the PBMs add unnecessary complexity and cause a huge amount of pain to patients everywhere.” With panelists representing multiple perspectives on PBMs, the session was full of lively discussion about this hot topic and gave attendees much to think about when it comes to collaborating on possible solutions. #AVBCC #AVBCC2025 #HealthcareMeeting #PBM #HealthInsurance

We were thrilled to have Mark Cuban, American businessman and television personality, join us for AVBCC’s 15th Annual Educational Summit & Program. In conversation with Antonio Ciaccia, CEO, 46brooklyn Research, and Cynthia Fisher, Founder & Chairman, PatientRightsAdvocate, Mark shared how his belief that every American should have access to safe, affordable medicines led him to launch The Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company. “Healthcare is the easiest system I’ve tried to disrupt,” he said. Mark discussed his thoughts on the economics of healthcare, including the impact of PBMs and insurance companies on employers and patients. He encouraged leaders in the audience to take back the power through self-insurance, which he sees a groundswell of support for in the future. He went on to explain the benefits of the Cost Plus Drugs’ direct-to-consumer model, and how they’re working directly with health systems to have an even bigger impact. Direct-to-consumer has been a hot topic throughout AVBCC’s 15th Annual Educational Summit & Program, and it was exciting to have a leader in this space share his insights! #AVBCC #AVBCC2025 #HealthcareMeeting #Leadership #Healthcare

During Day Two of AVBCC’s 15th Annual Educational Summit & Program, the “We’re Not in Kansas Anymore: What’s Next for Part B Drugs?” roundtable brought together IRA policy experts and government officials to discuss the Part B drugs selected for price negotiation in early 2026. The panel featured Barbara McAneny, MD, Past President, American Medical Association; CEO, New Mexico Cancer Center; Lisa Thompson Harrison, SVP and President, Specialty Distribution and Solutions, Cencora; Lauren Neves, JD, Vice President, PhRMA. It was moderated by Kolton Gustafson, MPH, Principal, Avalere Health. Panelists delved into the nuances of these Part B drugs and explored the unique access challenges in effectuating the selected medicines’ “maximum fair price” compared to the Part D drugs selected for price negotiation in 2026 and 2027. They discussed the detrimental impact of CMS proposing not to publish ASP for selected drugs and the impact that decision could have on independent practice, especially in underserved areas. Enrollment was another topic of discussion, with Harrison noting that enrollment difficulties could cause pharmacies to not dispense the drugs at all. The panel also posed industry-tested solutions to some of these issues. Neves touted the benefits of the Protecting Patient Access to Cancer and Complex Therapies Act. “It fixes the spillover into the commercial market, it restores position payment to ASP Plus 6, and it literally leaves the discount to an issue that’s between the government and the manufacturers, and just cuts the providers out of it altogether.” Finally, they considered the outlook for particularly implicated therapeutic areas, like oncology and cancer care. “Recognize that now is the time when oncology practices need an alternative payment system that gets us off the drug margin so we are paid fairly for the things we do, the services we provide, and the expertise we give to patients so they know that they are getting optimal care,” said Dr. McAneny. With 2026 on the horizon, the insights from these panelists were especially valuable as we navigate these challenging times. #AVBCC #AVBCC2025 #HealthcareMeeting #PartBDrugs #PartDDrugs #CMS #ASP #Oncology

The “Fixing Generic Reimbursement and Shortages: A Prescription for Stability and Access” session at AVBCC’s 15th Annual Educational Summit & Program tackled the pressing issues of generic drug reimbursement and chronic shortages. This critical panel featured Brent Eberle, MBA, President, CivicaScript; Sean McGowan, MBA, VP, Biosimilars & Branded Oncology, Amneal; John Murphy III, President & CEO Association for Accessible Medicines; Christopher Marcum, PharmD, Executive Director, System Pharmacy Business and Strategy, City of Hope; Jorge J. García PharmD, MS, MHA, MBA, FACHE, Assistant Vice President – System Oncology, Infusion and Investigational Drug Services, Baptist Health South Florida; and was moderated by Barry Brooks, MD, MBA, Medical Director GPO Services, McKesson Specialty Health. The panelists brought varying perspectives to the conversation as they explored innovative strategies to transform the generic drug landscape. One of the key issues that arose during the discussion was that reimbursement rates are often below the cost of production. This means that manufacturers struggle to maintain profitability, while providers face unsustainable costs for administering these therapies. Murphy emphasized the importance of building a system of resiliency and sustainability, rather than one solely driven by cost. “There isn’t a single policy that we could pull that would make the entire system work better,” he said. “We have to really start to sustain a desire in the health policy community to build a more resilient generic and biosimilar supply chain in the United States.” Dr. Marcum highlighted the ramifications of drug shortages on patients and the importance of keeping patients at the center of these conversations. “From a psychosocial, financial, administrative burden, the patient impact is significant.” Eberle shared how CivicaScript and CivicaRX is using a process called “collaborative disruption” to create a predictable supply at a predictable price point. By leveraging the expertise of health systems, who identify the products they deem essential, they can see where the shortages are—and what products they should focus on developing. McGowan and Dr. Garcia lent their expertise on the 505(b)(2) product category to the discussion. This pathway allows manufacturers or developers to take the existing research of a product and allow for the development of that product in a different dosage form, presentation, or delivery mechanism. As the conversation came to a close, the panelists agreed that pricing and price control is at the core of the drug shortage issue, and it must be reformed in order to ensure a stable supply chain, equitable access to essential medications, and sustainable business models for all stakeholders. #AVBCC #AVBCC2025 #HealthcareMeeting #GenericReimbursement #GenericDrugShortage

Day One of AVBCC’s 15th Annual Educational Summit & Program began with a lively discussion about PBMs and drug wholesalers The “PBMs and Drug Wholesalers, What’s the Difference in Contracting Behaviors Today?” panel consisted of deeply experienced industry experts: Michael Kody, COO, BioCareSD; Tim Ward, JD, President, Hercules; Tim Dube, SVP, Policy and Regulatory Insights, PCMA; Megan Colwell, PharmD, BCPS, VP, Market Access Strategy, Capital Rx. It was moderated by Jeff Berkowitz, CEO, Real Endpoints. A common observation heard in public policy and pharmaceutical contacting channels is there is little difference in the behaviors between the 3 big PBM’s and traditional wholesalers today. The panelists offered diverse perspectives on what has caused this disconnect and how to solve it. Vertical integration was a key topic of debate amongst the panelists. Ward argued that it does not result in benefit to the market participant and emphasized the importance of competition in the pharmaceutical marketplace. Dube offered a different perspective, stating that “There’s a place for vertical integration. It generates savings, it generates efficiency, and it generates improved quality.” Kody agreed that competition can work, but noted that newer entities can face high barriers of entry and they require investment in order to overcome them. He also highlighted the need for fair margins and supply chain efficiency in order to lower drug costs for patients. Dr. Colwell noted that moving away from vertical integration could introduce perverse incentives. “That is just something to be mindful of,” she says. They also touched upon if and how direct-to-consumer is disrupting the status quo of the pharmaceutical marketplace, and the impact it could have on coordinated care. As pharmaceutical contractors and markets seek harmonization between business partners and the return to economic sustainable market behaviors, this panel demonstrated the need for reform while highlighting the varying perspectives on how to enact it effectively. #AVBCC #AVBCC2025 #HealthcareMeeting #PBM #DrugWholesale #Pharmaceuticals