PALO ALTO, Calif., Nov. 6, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort to
elevate the patient voice in cancer care, Varian (NYSE: VAR)
announced it has been selected as the vendor of choice by the
Michigan Oncology Quality Consortium (MOQC) to support its efforts
to develop patient-centered quality measures for cancer care. This
year, there were an estimated 58,000 new cancer cases in the state
of Michigan, according to the
American Cancer Society; nearly 18,000 of those new cases are
breast cancer and lung and bronchus cancer. MOQC will implement
Varian's software application, Noona®, to manage patient
symptoms and capture patient reported outcomes (PROs) in cancer
care—throughout 19 cancer treatment locations in Michigan--to elevate, assess, and evaluate
PROs in cancer treatment.
Through its decision to implement Noona, MOQC is spearheading a
statewide project to develop Medicare quality measures for cancer
patients by putting patient outcomes and preferences at the center
of care. This initial round of public-private partnership
cooperative agreements is authorized under the Medicare Access and
CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) to identify measures for
the Quality Payment Program and initiate system reform to transform
Medicare from fee-for-service to value-based care.
"MOQC's unwavering mission is to offer the highest quality
cancer care to patients across the state of Michigan," said Dr. Jennifer Griggs, program director of MOQC. "In
order to make significant strides toward developing quality
measures, we understand the value and need of hearing and
responding to the patient's voice—before, during, and after
treatment. The selection of Noona was based on the fact that it was
the only oncology-specific program, has a patient-friendly
interface, and is customizable with a short turnaround time. MOQC
practices liked that Noona was owned by a large corporation known
in the oncology line of business."
Together with MOQC, Varian aims to help define a new oncology
reimbursement model that will enable better patient care and help
improve patients' chances of survival. With Noona, patients have
the ability to regularly engage during each step of their personal
cancer care treatment journey and in-turn help support quality
measurement for cancer care.
Noona offers patients an improved way to communicate their
symptoms and other relevant clinical information to their care
team, while eliminating common barriers, such as patients' physical
location or technological adeptness. Throughout MOQC's vendor
selection process, clinicians and cancer survivors had the
opportunity to demo and experience the Noona platform. The
simplicity of the technology, ease of engagement, and positive
response from patients and their care teams continues to be
promising.
Noona is a cloud-based, mobile application patients use on their
smart phones that is structured to collect a standardized dataset
that is centered around patients' quality of life—including new or
shifting symptoms that may signal a necessary shift in care.
Patients are assigned a treatment module that aligns with their
cancer type and allows them to regularly report and track their
symptoms while sharing their questions and concerns instantly.
Positive outcomes reported from clinics worldwide that have adopted
Noona include: increased clinical efficiency and reduced workloads
(saving up to 60 minutes per day) per user; improved information
capture with a 90 percent patient response rate for symptom
questionnaires; and more effective patient triage with algorithms
that prioritize patients by symptom severity.
Henry Ford Cancer Institute and Munson Medical Center in
Michigan are the first two MOQC
sites to deploy Noona. Varian and MOQC will continue to oversee
Noona's implementation through the end of 2019, with the goal of
deploying the platform to all 19 treatment locations by
April 2020. For more information,
visit www.varian.com/noona
About Varian
At Varian, we envision a world without
fear of cancer. For more than 70 years, we have developed, built
and delivered innovative cancer care technologies and solutions for
our clinical partners around the globe to help them treat millions
of patients each year. With an Intelligent Cancer Care approach, we
are harnessing advanced technologies like artificial intelligence,
machine learning and data analytics to enhance cancer treatment and
expand access to care. Our 9,200 employees across 70 countries keep
the patient and our clinical partners at the center of our thinking
as we power new victories in cancer care. Because, for cancer
patients everywhere, their fight is our fight. For more
information, visit http://www.varian.com and follow @VarianMedSys
on Twitter.
About Michigan Oncology Quality Consortium (MOQC)
The
Michigan Oncology Quality Consortium is a group of medical and
gynecologic oncology practices who collaborate to improve the
quality of cancer care across the State
of Michigan. Launched in 2009, MOQC collects and shares data
with its practices to identify areas where care variation, under or
over utilization of services, or opportunities to provide guideline
-concordant care exist. Strategies for improving and sustaining
results and outcomes are identified, communicated and adopted by
participating practices. Funding and support for MOQC is provided
by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan.
Press Contact
Mark Plungy
Director, Global Public Relations
+1 (650) 424-5630
mark.plungy@varian.com
Investor Relations Contact
Anshul Maheshwari
Vice President, Investor Relations
+1 (650) 424-5631
investors@varian.com
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SOURCE Varian