Cigna, oncology group in value-based care program

The health insurer Cigna and Hackensack-based Regional Cancer Care Associates - one of the nation's largest oncology practices, with thousands of patients throughout New Jersey - announced a new program to improve care for people receiving chemotherapy to treat any type of cancer.

The program is an extension of Cigna Collaborative Care, a value-based initiative that uses incentives to encourage health care providers to seek improved health, affordability and patient experience. Initially focused on large primary-care physician groups, the collaborative has expanded to hospitals, small primary-care practices and specialists, including oncologists.

The program encourages RCCA physicians to follow evidence-based medicine guidelines for cancer care and to use the expertise of COTA Inc., an oncology analytics company that tracks the quality of care and associated costs. In addition, RCCA will expand access to daily acute care with same-day appointment availability, after-hours access and afterhours clinical advice, including 24/7 access to clinical triage staff.

"We've seen great results from our collaborative care arrangements with large physician groups," said Dr. Ronald Menzin, senior medical director for Cigna in New Jersey. "Now we're applying that successful model - which includes a care coordinator employed by the medical practice, and incentives that compensate physicians for the value of the care they deliver - to drive similar improvements in quality and cost of oncology care."

"Establishing this relationship with Cigna, and using newtechnologies like COTA that precisely measure variance in clinical and cost outcomes, will improve cancer care so that we can deliver better quality of life and a better experience for our patients each time they interact with our clinical team," said Dr. Andrew Pécora, president of RCCA. - Beth Fitzgerald