Critical lessons from the OCM and beyond to shape the future of oncology payment reform

New payment models, New regulatory and reimbursement approaches, Health system readiness
/ Healthcare

Optimal Oncology Alternative Payment Models, October 2020

As details on the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation’s (CMMI) new Oncology Care First (OCF) model remain undecided, participants of the oncology alternative payment models (APMs) advisory council met in October 2020 to take stock of new data and recent analyses from oncology payment reform experiments. The overarching aim of the meeting was to assess whether meaningful, longer-term findings are emerging from early evaluations and explorations in this space.

To this end, council participants discussed recent lessons and anticipated trends from the Oncology Care Model (OCM); insights and lessons from models outside of the OCM; and the possibility of producing a council publication to share these insights. Throughout the course of the meeting, participants emphasized that defining the optimal cost components for which a practice should be held accountable remains a fundamental challenge across models.

This Summary of Themes provides a brief overview of the meeting.