The National Oncology Working Group (NOW) initiative: payer and provider collaborations in oncology benefits management.

Payers recognize the need to expand benefits management for oncology but struggle to find effective solutions amid the complexity of available therapies and skepticism from oncologists, who are facing their own set of economic pressures. An effort called the National Oncology Working Group (NOW) Initiative is trying to change the sometimes adversarial relationship between payers and oncologists through a collaborative model. The group, which is supported by pharmaceutical manufacturer sanofi-aventis, is developing patient-centered strategies for successful and sustainable oncology benefits management. The focus includes finding consensus between payers and providers and devising solutions for oncology management such as decreasing variability of cancer care and improving end-of-life care for patients with terminal illness. NOW is designing tools that will be tested in small-scale regional demonstration projects, which NOW participants anticipate will set an example for successful oncology benefits management that can be replicated and expanded.