In recognition of her work in value-based care, Barbara McAneny, MD, FASCO, MACP, was honored with the Annual Achievement Award of the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC). Her work in developing the grant-funded COME HOME oncology medical home initiative demonstrated reduced costs and improved care; helped to inform Medicare’s current Oncology Care Model (OCM) pilot; and supported physician practices in process changes critical to participation in value-based payment models, including those created under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA).
This June, Dr. McAneny, a board-certified medical oncologist/hematologist from Albuquerque, New Mexico, became the first oncologist to be voted President-Elect of the American Medical Association (AMA). She will assume the AMA presidency in June 2018.
The ACCC Annual Achievement Award recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions, nationally and/or internationally, to cancer care and patients with cancer. Past honorees include esteemed cancer advocates and foundation leaders, as well as U.S. Presidents and Senators such as President Richard M. Nixon, President George H.W. Bush, and Senator Ted Kennedy.
Continued Focus on Cancer Care in the Future
Dr. McAneny’s acceptance speech conveyed her unique perspective as a physician who successfully transitioned to a leadership role within the nation’s rapidly evolving health-care environment. “It is a great honor to receive this ACCC award,” Dr. McAneny said. “This is an organization that brings together thousands of specialists from all areas of cancer care, from cancer centers and hospitals to private practices and academic centers. All of us have a common cause, which is taking care of cancer patients. So, to receive an award from an organization that has so many great people to choose from is one of the greatest honors of my life!”
(Pictured above, from left to right): ACCC President-Elect Thomas A. Gallo, MS; ACCC Immediate Past President Jennie R. Crews, MD, MMM, FACP; Barbara L. McAneny, MD, FASCO, MACP; and ACCC President Mark S. Soberman, MD, MBA, FACS.
Dr. McAneny also emphasized the AMA’s long-standing principle of increasing access to health care through insurance coverage. “[This is] especially important for cancer patients,” she emphasized.
Reflecting on evolving practice transformation, Dr. McAneny urged alignment between practice delivery models and newly emerging payment models. “A medical home isn’t a payment methodology; it’s a practice methodology,” she said. “We need a payment model that works with it.” It’s needed “because our country can’t afford to lose the infrastructure of cancer care,” she explained.
As AMA President-Elect, she hopes Congress will work with doctors across America to fix our ailing health-care system, so every individual with cancer can receive the care he or she deserves. ■
