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NCCN Chemotherapy Order Templates to be Integrated into Epic’s Electronic Health Record

NCCN is working with Epic to integrate the NCCN Chemotherapy Order Templates (NCCN Templates) into Epic’s Beacon Oncology Information System as electronic chemotherapy protocols for use by health care providers.

“NCCN is pleased to collaborate with Epic on this new offering which indeed benefits patients with cancer,” said Robert W. Carlson, MD, Chief Executive Officer, NCCN. “Access to the templates within their EHR will assist physicians in ensuring that they are ordering the latest evidence-based chemotherapy regimens for their patients in both the academic and community settings.”

As part of the integration, the NCCN Templates will link to NCCN.org so that the related NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) are available to end users as a reference through Beacon, which allows physicians to create treatment plans based on standard protocols and make treatment decisions guided by comprehensive decision support.

The information contained in the NCCN Templates is based on the NCCN Guidelines. NCCN Templates include chemotherapy and immunotherapy regimens with literature support, supportive care agents, monitoring parameters, and safety instructions.

NCCN continues to add to the library of chemotherapy order templates to improve the safe and effective use of drugs and biologics in cancer care.

The NCCN Templates enhance patient safety by assisting health care providers with standardization of patient care, reduction in medication errors, and anticipation and management of adverse events.

For more information about the NCCN Templates, visit NCCN.org/templates.

Looking Back: 20 Years of Colorectal Cancer Treatment Breakthroughs Improve Survival, Advance Evidence-Based Choices

NCCN has published the 20th annual editions of the NCCN Guidelines for Colon and Rectal Cancers, 2 of the 8 original NCCN Guidelines published in November 1996.

“A lot has changed in the treatment of colorectal cancer since 1996,” said Al B. Benson, III, MD, Professor of Medicine and Associate Director for Clinical Investigations, Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, and Chair of the NCCN Guidelines Panels for Colon and Rectal Cancers. “The evolution of treatment includes not only additional chemotherapy agents but also targeted biologic therapies. Physicians now have multiple lines of therapies with more choices of combinations available, which can be broken down appropriately as initial therapy and therapy after progression.”

Dr. Benson, who has been a member of the NCCN Guidelines Panels for Colon and Rectal Cancers since their inception in 1996, noted that advancements in the continuum of care in metastatic colorectal cancer have resulted in a major improvement in median survival compared with 1996, and adjuvant chemotherapy for stage III colon cancer with FOLFOX and CapeOx has also improved survival. Further, discovery of molecular markers, such as MSI and KRAS, have set the stage for more targeted patient care.

“The original set of guidelines emphasized multidisciplinary evaluation and multimodality therapy of large bowel cancer,” said Paul F. Engstrom, MD, Professor and Chairman, Medical Oncology, Fox Chase Cancer Center, and founding Chair of the NCCN Guidelines Panels for Colon and Rectal Cancers. “Over the years, the guidelines have become the standard of care and the framework for chemotherapy options, as well as chemotherapy reimbursement.”

Today, NCCN develops and publishes a library of 59 NCCN Guidelines, covering 97% of malignant cancers. The NCCN Guidelines are developed and updated through an evidence-based process in which the expert panels integrate comprehensive clinical and scientific data with the judgment of the multidisciplinary panel members and other experts drawn from NCCN Member Institutions. Access to the complete library of NCCN Guidelines is available free-of-charge to clinicians at NCCN.org.

“NCCN is proud to publish the 20th annual editions of the NCCN Guidelines for Colon and Rectal Cancers,” said Robert W. Carlson, MD, Chief Executive Officer, NCCN. “NCCN extends its gratitude to the NCCN Guidelines Panel Members for Colon and Rectal cancers. With their expertise and service, the NCCN Guidelines have indeed provided free, evidence-based treatment recommendations to benefit patients and clinicians in academic and community settings alike.”

On March 12-14, 2015, the NCCN 20th Annual Conference: Advancing the Standard of Cancer Care will be held at The Diplomat in Hollywood, Florida. In recognition of NCCN’s 20th anniversary, NCCN is planning to hold a special live roundtable during the NCCN Annual Conference comprising NCCN leadership— past and present—and other stakeholders who have had a significant impact on the development, progression, and success of NCCN over the years; noteworthy historical NCCN accomplishments and events will be discussed, as well as the impact NCCN has had and continues to have on the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of cancer care so that patients can live better lives.

To learn more about NCCN, the NCCN Guidelines, and the NCCN 20th Annual Conference, visit NCCN.org.

Cigna Using NCCN Content for Oncology Coverage Policy Development

Cigna is using NCCN content as a resource for oncology coverage policy development and updates for the company’s more than 840,000 providers throughout the United States.

“Cigna recognizes the important role that NCCN has in establishing standards and guidance for care in the area of cancer screening, diagnosis, treatment, and surveillance,” said Julie B. Kessel, MD, Cigna’s Senior Medical Director for Coverage Policy.

As part of coverage policy development, Cigna uses the NCCN Guidelines and the NCCN Drugs & Biologics Compendium (NCCN Compendium) as references in the appropriate choice for the treatment of people with cancer in the United States.

“We applaud Cigna’s decision to use the library of NCCN Guidelines and its derivatives as support for its oncology coverage policies,” said Robert W. Carlson, MD, Chief Executive Officer, NCCN. “The collaboration between Cigna and NCCN benefits approximately 12.5 million members in the United States as it sets the framework for providers to deliver high-quality, evidence-based oncology care as defined by experts from the NCCN Member Institutions.”

The NCCN Guidelines are a comprehensive set of guidelines detailing the sequential management choices and interventions for 97% of malignant cancers. In addition, separate guidelines have been created that are related to major prevention and screening topics, and a third set focuses on the major supportive care areas. The NCCN Guidelines provide recommendations based on the best evidence available at the time they are derived.

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