Taking Aim at Cancer Costs

Health Alliance Plan (HAP), a Detroit-based regional health plan, is among a handful of payers experimenting with different payment models and protocols for the treatment of cancers.

According to a study that appeared last year in the New England Journal of Medicine, annual direct costs for cancer care will increase by $69 billion to $173 billion in 2020. Among the cost drivers is the increased cost of therapies. The sales of anti-cancer drugs are second only to those for heart disease.

HAP, along with Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions and Physician Resource Management, an oncology physician consulting firm, are working together on an evidence-based clinical pathways program that it hopes will improve the treatment quality and lower the costs of cancer care.

Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions will provide education and training and the technology used by HAP physicians to implement and monitor the program. PRM is assisting in physician recruitment.