DALLAS and FORT WORTH, Texas, July 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Oncology Metrics, a business that develops products and services to help accelerate advancements in the treatment of cancer, today announced the launch of the Oncology Metrics National Indices (OMNIs) a series of data driven national indices that measure the diagnosis, treatment and management of cancer.
In recent years treatment options in oncology have expanded as has the use of electronic medical records (EMRs). EMRs have led to the availability of a significant repository of accessible clinical information. For the first time in history, data is available that makes it possible to develop analytic tools to add objective data to the discourse on practice patterns and to track the changes that occur in the patterns of care.
"The OMNIs, conceived by Oncology Metrics and designed to shine a spotlight on 12 key areas of cancer care, have been vetted by an advisory board comprised of community oncologists," said Warren Dodge, President and Chief Executive Officer of Oncology Metrics. "Oncology Metrics will not attempt to define or interpret the OMNIs; rather our goal is to stimulate dialogue and debate amongst the key stakeholders in the oncology industry. We hope this dialogue will help enhance the quality of cancer care."
Dean Gesme, MD Joins Oncology Metrics as Director of Clinical Measurement to Spearhead OMNI Program
Dean H. Gesme, Jr., MD has joined Oncology Metrics as the Director of Clinical Measurement. In this capacity he will spearhead the development of the OMNIs, work with Oncology Metrics' external advisory board on all issues related to the OMNIs, and work with the Oncology Metrics team to identify additional opportunities to promote quality cancer care.
"Dr. Gesme is the ideal individual to manage the OMNI program. We sought his involvement because of his many years of experience on the national and local level with cancer related issues, his drive for improving cancer care, and his compassion for his patients," said Warren Dodge, President and Chief Executive Officer of Oncology Metrics.
Dr. Gesme is Past Chair of the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, Silver Springs, Maryland and Past Chair of the Clinical Practice Committee of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He has been the Oncology Representative on the AMA CPT Advisory Panel dealing with physician coding and payment issues.
Dr. Gesme is also Past President of the Iowa Division of the American Cancer Society and has served on the Board of the local, state, and national American Cancer Society organization. Dr. Gesme had been engaged in patient and physician education efforts for more than 10 years and has also engaged in developing assessment and education tools to deal with quality cancer care from the patient-perspective. In addition to his role at Oncology Metrics, Dr. Gesme is a medical oncologist in private practice with Minnesota Oncology
Hematology PA working at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
"I am thrilled to join Oncology Metrics to lead this initiative," said Dr. Gesme, Director of Clinical Measurement. "Current data resources allow for the production of meaningful clinical indices that provide useful insights into past treatment patterns and offer a unique and powerful way to measure changes in care patterns over time. Oncology Metrics' OMNI program can offer data-driven indices that will help improve the quality of cancer care."
First Index: OMNI ESA
The first OMNI to launch describes patterns of use of erythropoietic stimulating agents (ESA) and is called the OMNI ESA. OMNI ESA is based on a retrospective analysis of over 200,000 ESA administrations recorded in the target database between January 1, 2004 and April 30, 2007. All ESA administrations recorded were analyzed with respect to the associated hemoglobin values at the time of the ESA administration.
To create the ESA index, the total number of administrations from the targeted database associated with hemoglobin values less than 12 was divided by the total of all administrations that did have a recorded hemoglobin value. The result was multiplied by 1,000 to create an index range from 0 to 1,000. If all of the ESA administrations having hemoglobin values in a given time interval were associated with hemoglobin values equal to or less than 12, then the numerator and denominator would be the same and the resulting index would be 1,000. Complete information on the OMNI ESA determination has been submitted for publication.
The OMNI ESA reported for the second quarter of 2007 is up by 20 points from the first quarter to a value of 840 which breaks a year long period of stability. Oncology Metrics has created the OMNI ESA going back through the first quarter of 2004. To see the OMNI ESA and a companion OMNI ESA Hgb, visit the Oncology Metrics website at http://www.oncomet.com/.
Additional OMNIs
Oncology Metrics will publish 12 unique OMNIs and each OMNI will be updated quarterly. The next two OMNIs scheduled for release are OMNI Her2 and OMNI EMR Staging. Oncology Metrics plans to continue to launch new OMNIs through 2008.
About Oncology Metrics
Oncology Metrics is a business that develops products and services to help accelerate advancements in the treatment of cancer. Oncology Metrics has built three distinct networks of community-based oncology centers from which it gathers financial and operation information, clinical information, and biological specimens. It accesses and aggregates this information to provide a platform of knowledge-based products and services. The cornerstone of Oncology Metrics' approach is to promote the discovery and adoption of best practice. Oncology Metrics' customers include oncology care providers and all organizations involved in the quest to improve cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Oncology Metrics knowledge-based products and services will help providers improve their financial and clinical performance, industry develop better products and services for oncology professionals, and patients receive more effective individualized care.
The Oncology Metrics team is comprised of business and medical professionals with decades of experience in healthcare. Oncology Metrics was founded in 2001 and is based in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas with an office in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Additional information about Oncology Metrics can be found at http://www.oncomet.com/.
Oncology Metrics
CONTACT: Christine Aylward of Oncology Metrics, +1-415-946-1072,
press@oncomet.com
Web site: http://www.oncomet.com/
