Cancer Treatment Options: Independent Review Organizations (IROs) & Medically Approved Cancer Treatments
Payers Turn to Independent Review Organizations (IROs) To Help Stay Abreast of New, Medically Approved Cancer Treatment Options
PORTLAND, OR (PRWEB) December 3, 2004 --In 2004, nearly 1.4 million people
will have been diagnosed with cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.
The victims are fairly evenly divided, with males having a slight lead at 51
percent. The causes of cancer are seemingly too complicated to unravel, but the
effects are unfortunately too obvious.
The rise in cancer diagnosis,
combined with rapidly advancing medical research and technology, makes it
increasingly difficult for patients, providers, claims payers and medical
managers to distinguish between protocols for scientific experiments and the
medically accepted protocols for treatment. While the two sound the same, they
serve different ends. Experimental protocols are simply mechanisms for following
scientific research that can be replicated and compared against an already
standardized treatment to prove validity. This process may require several
experiments and studies before treatment is sanctioned as a proven method that
can be used on patients.
“Patients, along with their physicians, are
always seeking the newest medical treatment advancements, especially when it
comes to cancer,” said Dr. Skip Freedman, medical director at AllMed Healthcare
Management, a leading Independent Review Organization (IRO). “What’s often hard
to understand is that many of the experimental treatments for cancer being
touted by the research community simply aren’t covered by insurance companies
because they have not reached the medically proven stage.”
According to
Dr. Freedman, the four major types of cancer treatments available today include
surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and biologic therapies. New treatments, such as
hormone therapies with Tamoxifen and transplant options involving bone marrow,
are being added to these standard procedures on a regular basis. He added that
burgeoning information on cancer treatment makes it hard for even the insurance
companies to stay up-to-date on the latest advances.
To ensure patients
are receiving the treatments they are entitled to and that payers are only
paying for care that is medically proven and approved, it’s becoming imperative
that payers have access to independent, Board-certified Oncologists and
Hematologists as part of the claims approval and review process. Many payers are
turning to Independent Review Organizations (IROs), such as AllMed, to help with
this process. An IRO can provide access to the Oncology and Hematology
specialists that understand the latest cancer treatment options and can help
claims and medical managers stay abreast of which cancer treatments are
sanctioned and should be added to patient care standards and which ones are
still considered experimental. More information on the independent review
services can be found on AllMed’s web site at http://www.allmedmd.com.
About AllMed Healthcare
Management
Founded in 1995, AllMed is a URAC-accredited Independent Review
Organization (IRO) serving insurance payers, providers, TPAs and claims managers
nationwide. Reviews are conducted by board-certified physicians in active
practice. AllMed's growing customer base includes premier organizations, such as
Educator's Mutual Life, IMS Managed Care, Tenet Healthcare Corporation,
HealthGuard, several Blue Cross Blue Shield organizations, TriWest Healthcare
Alliance, Allianz and many other leading healthcare payers.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/12/prweb185128.htm