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Virginia Oncology, Anthem Reach Terms on Contract

Posted on: Thursday, 6 April 2006, 12:01 CDT

By Elizabeth Simpson, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

Apr. 6--An agreement between the region's largest oncology practice and Virginia's largest insurer has brought a sigh of relief to many local cancer patients.

After 21 months of negotiation, Virginia Oncology Associates and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Virginia have announced a contract agreement that continues their partnership through 2007.

The agreement, completed last week, wraps up a worrisome time for some 15,000 Virginia Oncology patients covered by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

At one point in December, Virginia Oncology had decided to end the partnership and informed those patients they would have to pay more for "out of network" treatment or find a different practice beginning in January .

Affected patients were angry and frustrated by the turn of events. "You don't want to get up and change doctors in the middle of things," said patient Douglas Acres, 50, a Virginia Beach resident with multiple myeloma.

The two companies resumed negotiations and agreed to continue working together on an interim basis earlier this year. The two parties have been in intense discussion ever since, according to Dr. Edward George, Virginia Oncology's president. "There was give-and-take on both sides," he said.

At issue was the reimbursement the cancer center received for about 30 drugs. The terms of the agreement were not released, but George said the practice will be able to continue its high-quality treatment. The practice also will be tracking medications to establish protocols that are both uniform and effective, in order to reduce unnecessary costs.

Virginia Oncology Associates, the largest cancer specialist network in the state, has 30 doctors in 12 locations throughout Hampton Roads and in eastern North Carolina.

George said some patients have been anxious during the past three months about the negotiations. Virginia Oncology had four town hall meetings to discuss the issue. He said the cancer center would have tried to continue to work with the patients, even if an agreement hadn't been reached, but some patients might have incurred higher costs.

Acres said he had decided to stay with George, his oncologist, no matter what, and estimated he would have had to pay $100 a visit out of his own pocket. "That's more than I could afford."

So Acres called Anthem's office every couple of days to let officials there know how he felt. During a doctor's visit on Wednesday, George told him an agreement had been made. "I felt fantastic," said Acres, who has been seeing George since 2004.

George said other patients felt the same. "The general sentiment is a huge sigh of relief."

Virginia Oncology -- a joint venture with Sentara Healthcare -- is managed by Houston-based US Oncology Inc.

Two other centers managed by that company -- one in Roanoke, the other in Northern Virginia -- also came to an agreement with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield last week, after months of dispute.

* Reach Elizabeth Simpson at (757) 446-2635 or elizabeth.simpson@pilotonline.com.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

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Source: The Virginian-Pilot

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