What You Should Know:
– McKesson has unveiled the Precision Care Companion (PCC), a transformative initiative designed to tackle the multifaceted challenges that healthcare practices face in the rapidly evolving landscape of genomic testing and targeted therapies.
– The Precision Care Companion is structured as a consortium of leading industry experts, spearheaded by McKesson. This collaborative model is intentionally designed to foster a dynamic environment that unites a diverse range of perspectives, including physicians, clinicians, industry partners, and business leaders.
A Multi-faceted Approach to Empowering Oncology Practices
The Precision Care Companion employs a multi-pronged strategy to support healthcare practices in navigating the intricacies of biomarker-driven oncology care. This comprehensive approach encompasses several key pillars:
- Targeted Education: Recognizing that the field of genomic testing and targeted therapies is constantly evolving, PCC places a strong emphasis on providing relevant and up-to-date educational resources. This ensures that oncology professionals remain well-informed about the latest advancements, guidelines, and best practices in precision medicine.
- Technology Enhancements: PCC aims to integrate seamlessly with existing clinical workflows by leveraging and enhancing technology solutions. This includes optimizing electronic health record (EHR) systems to facilitate efficient test ordering, streamlined results review, and seamless integration of genomic information into treatment decision-making processes.
- Operational Best Practices: Implementing biomarker-directed care effectively requires optimized operational workflows. PCC will identify and disseminate best practices to help practices streamline processes, reduce administrative burdens, and ensure the efficient delivery of precision oncology services.
- Detailed Analytics on Biomarker Testing Rates: To drive continuous improvement and identify areas for optimization, PCC will provide practices with detailed analytics on their biomarker testing rates across various cancer diagnoses. This data-driven approach will enable practices to benchmark their performance, identify disparities, and implement targeted interventions to enhance the appropriate utilization of genomic testing.
Deployment Across The US Oncology Network
The Precision Care Companion is currently being deployed across the US Oncology Network, a significant network supporting more than 2,750 independent, community-based providers. This strategic implementation provides the PCC team with a robust platform to directly support each critical step of the patient care journey. This end-to-end support spans from the initial ordering of biomarker tests and the subsequent review of complex results to facilitating guideline-informed decisions regarding targeted therapy selection.
Furthermore, the deployment within The US Oncology Network enables the PCC team to collate valuable analytics and identify emerging best practices from a diverse range of participating practices. This collective knowledge will then be shared across the network, fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement in the application of precision oncology on a broad scale.
“Precision Care Companion is not just another program — it is a testament to McKesson’s unwavering commitment to advance community oncology so providers can efficiently offer targeted, personalized cancer care while keeping patients close to home,” said Jason Hammonds, chief operating officer of Oncology & Specialty for McKesson. “From accelerating the clinical development of new treatments to empowering practices with cutting-edge technology and real-world evidence that helps them to improve health outcomes, our work continues to elevate cancer care.”
