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ASCO is pleased to bring you the first ASCO in Action Brief, an extension of the increasingly popular ASCO in Action section of ASCO’s website. In an effort to further serve our members’ informational needs, the ASCO in Action Brief highlights timely...

CMS Offers Training Session on Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will conduct a training conference call for individual practitioners detailing the specifics of the Medicare and Med...

CMS’s Plans for the A/B Medicare Administrative Contractor “Round II” Procurements: Important Information for Potential Offerors Concerning -
• Consolidation of A/B MAC Jurisdictions
• Management of the A/B MAC Marketplace
• Responsibilities of ...

• The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) has developed a tracking database on the adverse
impact of Medicare reimbursement on community oncology practices. The database was initially
compiled from private and public sources.
• Included in this re...

Medicare is a federal program that pays for covered health services for most persons 65 years old
and older and for most permanently disabled individuals under the age of 65. The rising cost of
health care, the impact of the aging baby boomer gener...

On the same day that President Obama signed H.R. 3962 into law, which postponed the 21.3% cut in Medicare reimbursement rates by 6 months and provided a small raise retroactive to June 1, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued an advisory c...

It is hard not to become overwhelmed with the business of oncology practice today. Fewer resources, more patients, Medicare uncertainty are just a few of challenges we face. It is important - but frequently difficult - to keep our focus on the patien...

From oncology nurses to practice administrators to oncologists, every cancer care professional has a home at ASCO.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology knows that providing the best cancer care requires a team effort. Through multiple members...

ASCO joins the entire medical community in continued frustration with Congress' inability to address the Medicare physician payment system. The failure to pass H.R. 4213 has kept American physicians and millions of Medicare beneficiaries on their 23-...

This afternoon, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released its proposed Physician Fee Schedule and Revisions to Payment Policies for 2011. The rule which is titled "Medicare Program; Payment Policies Under the Physician Fee Schedule an...

Well, it's a good news/bad news story. The good news, of course, is that we finally have a Medicare payment patch, retroactive to June 1. And more good news is that this patch includes a 2.2% increase for the next six months. But the bad news is th...

Dear Oncology Practice Insider Subscribers: The following ASCO Cancer Policy Alert is the latest information on the SGR. You are being sent this message based on your OPI subscription in an effort to keep you informed of ASCO activities that impact y...

The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and
Modernization Act, enacted in 2003, substantially reduced payment rates
for chemotherapy drugs administered on an outpatient basis starting in
January 2005. We assessed how these reductions affected...

FDA Approves New Treatment for Advanced Prostate Cancer The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Jevtana (cabazitaxel), a chemotherapy drug used in combination with the steroid prednisone to treat men with prostate cancer. Jevtana is the ...

FDA Approves New Indication for Tasigna Approval expands use in treatment of rare type of leukemia The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved a new indication for Tasigna (nilotinib) for the treatment of a rare blood cancer when it is first...

Does Reimbursement Influence Chemotherapy
Treatment For Cancer Patients?
Medicare reimbursement has little effect on who gets cancer
treatment, but it does influence the kind of treatment received.
by Mireille Jacobson, A. James O’Malley, Craig C...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Prolia, an injectable treatment for postmenopausal women with osteoporosis who are at high risk for fractures.

Osteoporosis is a disease in which the bones become weak and are more likely to b...

An all-but-overlooked provision of the health reform law is threatening to swamp U.S. businesses with a flood of new tax paperwork.
Section 9006 of the health care bill -- just a few lines buried in the 2,409-page document -- mandates that beginning...

Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma affects about 1,500 Americans annually
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Istodax (romidepsin), an injectable medication, for treatment of patients with a rare form of cancer known as Cutaneous T-cell Lympho...

On April 16, 2010, the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved erlotinib (Tarceva) tablets for maintenance treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease has not progressed after f...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Morphine Sulfate Oral Solution for the relief of moderate to severe, acute and chronic pain in opioid-tolerant patients. This medicine will be available in 100 milligrams per 5 mL or 20 milligrams ...

Takeda Oncology and FDA notified healthcare professionals about revisions to the Prescribing Information for Velcade, section 2.5, pertaining to patients with hepatic impairment at the start of Velcade therapy.

Takeda Oncology and FDA notified healthcare professionals about revisions to the Prescribing Information for Velcade, section 2.5, pertaining to patients with hepatic impairment at the start of Velcade therapy.

: On September 24, 2009, the Office of Oncology Drug Products granted accelerated approval to pralatrexate injection (FOLOTYN, Allos Therapeutics, Inc.) for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL). Th...

FDA Clears a Test for Ovarian Cancer
Test can help identify potential malignancies, guide surgical decisions

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today cleared a test that can help detect ovarian cancer in a pelvic mass that is already known to ...

FDA Requires Boxed Warning for Promethazine Hydrochloride Injection
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is telling manufacturers of the drug promethazine to include a boxed warning regarding the injectable form of the drug. The warning, under FDA'...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration published two rules today that seek to clarify the methods available to seriously ill patients interested in gaining access to investigational drugs and biologics when they are not eligible to participate in a cl...

Reporting Non-Tax Withholding Due to Federal Payment Levy Program (FPLP)
Reference: Trans. 503, CR #6228, Pub. 100-20, MLN: MM6228
Published Online: 8/14/2009

Provider Types Affected
Physicians and providers who bill Medicare carriers, fiscal i...

By JONATHAN WEISMAN and NAFTALI BENDAVID
The White House and Senate Democratic leaders, seeing little chance of bipartisan support for their health-care overhaul, are considering a strategy shift that would break the legislation into two parts and p...

http://www.cms.hhs.gov/mcd/viewlcd.asp?lcd_id=28287&lcd_version=18&show=

Bevacizumab (Avastin) in Combination with Interferon Alfa
On July 31, 2009 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted approval for the use of bevacizumab (Avastin, Genentech, Inc.) in combination with interferon alfa for the treatment of patients...

FDA Approves First Maintenance Drug Therapy for Advanced Lung Cancer
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Alimta (pemetrexed), the first drug available for maintenance therapy of advanced or metastatic lung cancer.

The safety and efficacy of ferumoxytol in the episodic treatment of iron deficiency anemia were assessed in three randomized, open-label, controlled clinical trials enrolling approximately 800 patients with CKD. In all three controlled trials, patie...

CMS has just issued severe cuts to Medicare reimbursement, including a 6% payment cut for community cancer care and elimination of consultation codes.
The CMS cut to cancer care is based upon the flawed survey data provided to
CMS by the AMA, whic...

Morphine Sulfate Oral Solution updated by FDA 5/20/2009

Roxane Laboratories (20mg/5ml and 10mg/5ml) - has product available

Mallinckrodt Inc. (20mg/ml) Customer Service number (1-800-325-8888) - increased demand due to another manufacturer leav...

CORRECTION - CORRECTED EFFECTIVE DATE FOR CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY COMPENDIA this week's Oplinc Fast Facts should have identified the effective date of July 2, 2008 for the Clinical Pharmacology Compendia. Please disregad the earlier issue and reference...

FDA Approves Drug for Treatment of Aggressive Brain Cancer
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved Avastin (bevacizumab) to treat patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) when this form of brain cancer continues to progress follow...