INDIANA MEDICAL ONCOLOGY SOCIETY

INDIANA ONCOLOGY SOCIETY
President
Naveed M. Chowhan, MD,
FACP, MBA
New Albany
Vice President
Dolores Olivarez, MD
Seymour
Immediate Past President
Stephen F. Eberwine, MD
Indianapolis
Secretary
Kim Woofter, RN
South Bend
Treasurer
Luke P. Akard, MD
Indianapolis
Members-at-Large
Vivian Cook, MD
Newburgh
Murugaval Muthusamy, MD
Valparaiso
Susan Wagner
Newburgh
Executive Office:
11600 Nebel Street
Suite 201
Rockville, MD 20852
Phone: 301.984.9496
Fax: 301.770.1949
www.ios-indiana.com
April 27, 2011
RE: IOS’s Recommendation of a Pathway Company
Dear IOS Member:
As IOS indicated to you in an email last December, the Board of Directors of the
Indiana Oncology Society (IOS) was establishing an Ad Hoc Committee on Pathways
and inviting member volunteers to serve on it. The charge to the Committee was to
explore the various companies involved with oncology pathways development and
implementation and determine the feasibility of selecting the most advantageous one
for the majority of oncology practices in Indiana and the patients they treat.
Since that time the Ad Hoc Committee was appointed and has completed its charge.
The Committee considered four companies that had developed oncology pathways to
date. One was eliminated because its pathways program did not include a physician
component, which IOS believes is essential to the process and to obtaining acceptance
from providers in Indiana.
Seven of the ten Ad Hoc Committee members attended a day-long meeting on March
18 th at which time they interviewed three companies and discussed their various
attributes. The companies were asked to: describe their product and services; discuss
the process of partnering with Indiana oncologists to develop and implement oncology
practice pathways; explain their data collection mechanism; and clarify how the
program would be integrated with payers.
At the end of the day, the Ad Hoc Committee agreed that the pathways package
offered by P4 and the services available from this company would be in the best
interest of oncologists in Indiana. This recommendation was submitted to the IOS
Board of Directors, which concurred with the Committee’s decision. Specifically, the
Committee chose P4 for the following reasons:
• P4 has more of a “turn key” implementation process that would mesh with the
variety of practices in Indiana, has strong physician leadership and the
commitment of support staff, and offers web-based access to resources.
• Benchmarking of data is more global and not localized to any one part of the
country or economically-connected group of practices
• Data collection is easier since it does not require a fully implemented EMR.
• There will be no direct costs to the practices or IOS, because services will be
paid under the contract between P4 and the payer. The Committee liked that
the financial exchange was direct with the payer and not with individual
practices or IOS.
• Practices will continue to negotiate contracts with payers as is the current
practice as well as with their choice of drug and equipment companies.
• P4 has a strong track record of facilitating carepath development with other
physician groups and has developed a system of implementation and
monitoring that has already been tested.

Currently, IOS is in the process of arranging a meeting among IOS representatives, P4 personnel, and
BCBS/Anthem/WellPoint to discuss the IOS endorsement of P4 to implement and manage a pilot pathways
program for oncology in Indiana and to establish the next steps in this process.
IOS’s role in a project such as this is particularly noteworthy. It is only a matter of time before private payers will
use some kind of quality measures to determine what constitutes appropriate services for the majority of our
patients, allowing leeway for those who present the most unique, complex, or difficult-to-treat cases. Some state
societies have had to respond after a company has entered into a contract with the primary private payer in the
state to implement a pathways program. When this occurs, the provider community tends to feel omitted from
the pathways development process. IOS is approaching this preemptively to ensure that providers not only assist
in the development of the pathways to be used in Indiana, but are comfortable with them, as well.
We have developed a question and answer document to address some of the immediate questions you may have
about this project. Visit our website, www.ios-indiana.com, to review it. Because this is a complex arrangement
that will evolve over time, IOS will continue to update you with information as it becomes available. In the
meantime, if you have additional questions or want to discuss the IOS decision, please don’t hesitate to contact
me at nchowhan1@gmail.com or Kim Woofter, Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee, at kwoofter@mhopc.com.
This matter also will be the subject of the next regularly-scheduled monthly teleconference for managers,
administrators, and other oncology business personnel on Wednesday, May 25 at 3:00 pm ET. This is open to all
IOS members and you and your staff are welcome to join the conversation. Watch your email for announcements
of the teleconference, which will contain call-in information.
I am very proud of our state society’s work on this project, which was initiated during Dr. Stephen Eberwine’s
presidency. I hope you also will be proud of IOS’s involvement in being a participant in change and not just a
victim of it. Thank you for your continued support of our state society.
Sincerely,
Naveed Chowhan, MD, FACP, MBA
President