3 Ways Payers Drive Population Health Management in Cancer Care

The industry’s transition into value-based care is characterized by a focus on data and patient centered care. By driving strong population health management, payers can excel in this value-based care model that relies on quality measures and patient outcomes to define successful care. Driving population health management is most needed but also particularly challenging for populations with complex, chronic diseases such as cancer. Cancer presents a population health challenge due to its many varieties. There are more than 100 known types of cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute.  Another difficulty in treating cancer with population health management is the population size. At the dawn of 2019, over 16.9 million cancer survivors in the US alone and experts expect that number to reach 22.1 million by 2030.  Cost of care also inhibits value-based cancer care. In 2019, cancer costs in the US reached $150 billion, driven largely by drug costs but also personal travel expenses for appointments and other hidden costs.