Taking Care of Cancer Patients:
Advocacy is Another Way
“There is nothing more important to me
as a physician than your cancer treatment.
I’ve been in practice for over two
decades and have had the privilege of
telling many patients that there is life
beyond cancer. As president of The Center
for Cancer and Blood Disorders, I want to
lead by example, practicing a firm belief
that all patients should receive the finest
medical care available, with the same
concern and compassion as a cherished
member of the family.”
Ray Page, D.O., Ph.D.
President and Medical Oncologist
The Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), with a mem-
bership of 45,000, just had its advocacy summit in Washington, DC
where we developed legislative and policy solutions and visited with
our congressmen, senators, and executive departments, such as the
FDA.
I was extremely humbled and honored when I was named the ASCO
2018 Advocate of the Year!
I have given many years of volunteer work with endless hours writing
policy and influencing legislation, but I have learned that in this world
I am nothing as an individual. Advocacy and making political changes
to benefit cancer patients is a team sport! It takes masses to move the
needle in D.C.
However, I have also learned that if you are taking care of patients
and you identify problems in the exam room that are related to our
laws, potentially harming the patient, then you can take a colleague or
society like ASCO to “buy-in”, then you have started a movement! It
all starts at the grass roots.
I have been privileged to work with the most brilliant and accom-
plished cancer doctors in the world on literally a daily basis. As a team
we continue to work on improving all aspects of cancer care delivery
where we have written policy, opinion papers, and new laws. We have
given innumerable public presentations and education, as well as
working closely with our legislators and executive agencies.
What I have worked on is an alphabet soup of extremely complex and
nuanced issues regarding such things as ACA, MACRA, MIPS, OCM,
APMs, PBMs, 340B, site neutrality, PCOP, CMS fee schedules, and
USP797/800 standards to name a few. What this means for the cancer
patient is to assure the highest quality of safe and affordable cancer
care delivery.
I was extremely excited that in the 2016 Texas legislative session, after
5 years of hard work with Senator Konni Burton, we finally passed a
drug donation bill that allows the recycling of unused, untampered
drugs, which is highly impactful for cancer patients on extremely ex-
pensive oral chemo drugs. We are working on all the state rules at this
time. but this is huge for the State of Texas.
The last few years I have had the honor of mentoring 4 fellows in the
new ASCO healthcare policy fellowship program. We did a tremen-
dous amount of work on policies centered around cancer treatment
pathways and guidelines. I am pretty certain I learned more from
them they learned from me.
Support services provided by:
To learn more about cancer care issues or to consult with a physician
about a cancer diagnosis, contact us at 817.596.0637.
Schedule appointments by calling
817-596-0637 or online at
www.thecentertx.com
Lastly, this year our cancer center is the first community oncology
practice in Texas through the Community Oncology Alliance to
support our PATIENT cancer advocacy network. It has started with a
huge success with outstanding cancer patients from my cancer center.
In a few weeks I will be at the AMA House of Delegates as an ASCO
Delegate to represent oncology in the “house of medicine”. Our
delegation has worked hard over recent years getting cancer related
resolutions accepted into AMA policy, which we can then use in our
legislative advocacy efforts.
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