ASCO Board Chair, Everett Vokes, MD, FASCO, said, “The Association for Clinical Oncology supports collaboration across the cancer community and with policymakers toward needed payment reform that supports patient access to high-quality, equitable cancer care.”

ASTRO's Radiation Oncology Case Rate program (ROCR) seeks to address inadequacies of the current payment system. The societies are seeking input from their members and other stakeholders on payment reform, as they ask policymakers to address the urgent threat facing cancer treatment access. They are committed to supporting radiation oncology professionals, both in hospital and freestanding office settings, to secure fair, stable reimbursement. Payment reform in radiation oncology also must address disparities faced by patients in rural and underserved communities.

The groups’ leaders expressed confidence that their partnership will ensure continued access close to home to compassionate, technologically advanced, life-saving treatments for patients diagnosed with cancer. They also expressed a commitment to this important advocacy initiative to protect and enhance access to radiation therapy services for patients today and tomorrow.


ABOUT ASTRO
The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) is the largest radiation oncology society in the world, with nearly 10,000 members who are physicians, nurses, biologists, physicists, radiation therapists, dosimetrists and other health care professionals who specialize in treating patients with radiation therapies. Radiation therapy contributes to 40% of global cancer cures, and more than a million Americans receive radiation treatments for cancer each year.

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