Opportunities in Oncology (Part 2): Balancing Cutting-Edge Research and Community Care

Dr. Harlan Levine began his career practicing internal medicine
but soon moved into business leadership roles at national
healthcare organizations to help improve the dysfunction with
payer-provider relationships that he experienced firsthand as a
physician.


At United Health Group, Dr. Levine joined as clinical lead of the
team that launched Optum, where he subsequently served as chief
medical officer for more than six years. He also led the health
management practice at Towers Watson and served as executive vice
president of comprehensive health solutions at WellPoint, among
other roles.


In 2013, Dr. Levine joined City of Hope, one of the country’s
largest and most advanced cancer research and treatment
organizations. City of Hope’s uniquely integrated model spans
cancer care, research and development, academics and training,
and a broad philanthropy program that powers its work. City of
Hope’s growing national system includes its Los Angeles campus, a
network of clinical care locations across Southern California, a
new cancer center in Orange County, California, and cancer
treatment centers and outpatient facilities in the Atlanta,
Chicago and Phoenix areas.


In addition to currently serving as president of health
innovation and policy at City of Hope, Dr. Levine is also chair
of the board of AccessHope. A spinout from City of Hope,
AccessHope partners with the nation’s most prestigious cancer
research centers to help make leading-edge cancer care available
to all, regardless of geographical location.


Dr. Levine joined Keith Figlioli for the second episode of a
Healthcare is Hard series exploring opportunities in oncology.
Some of the topics they discussed include:



Community practice vs. academic medical centers.
Delivering personalized care and giving patients access to
cutting-edge treatment is equally important, yet historically
difficult to balance. In the first episode of this series, Dr.
Stephen Schleicher from Tennessee Oncology shared how one of
the nation’s most successful community oncology practices is
tackling the challenge. In this episode, Dr. Levine discussed
City of Hope’s model of putting academic research at the center
and connecting it with community practices. He described how
City of Hope is changing the direction of cancer care – not
just delivering it – by giving patients faster access to
emerging science.


Defining value in oncology. Dr. Levine calls himself an
outlier when it comes to value-based care in oncology because
he thinks the industry missed a critical first step – defining
what the term means. In most circumstances, discussions around
value are centered around reducing cost. But Dr. Levine points
out that a cancer patient defines value very differently. They
define it as survival. They think about whether or not they
returned to normal functionality in normal life, and what their
experience was through the entire treatment process. He says
the industry needs to recognize and customize models for these
unique aspects of cancer care before the term VBC should be
used in oncology.


AI in oncology. Dr. Levine shared his outlook for the
many ways artificial intelligence will change oncology – from
drug discovery to care delivery. He believes AI will completely
disrupt the approach to cancer care and that the revolution
will happen quickly – not in seven to 10 years, but in three to
five. He talked about the ways he sees AI changing how doctors
deliver care, and why he’s even more optimistic about its
ability to accelerate research.



To hear Dr. Levine and Keith discuss these topics and more,
listen to this episode of Healthcare is Hard: A Podcast for
Insiders.