When asked whether interventional oncology (IO) has established itself as the fourth pillar of oncology, three eminent interventional oncologists agreed that it is an “ongoing process.” They talked about how to ensure that IOs have a voice in cancer treatment:

The agency stated that the JZ modifier (zero drug amount discarded/not administered to any patient) “will be required for all drugs separately payable under Part B that are designated as a single-dose container on the FDA-approved label or package insert for which there are no discarded amounts” in the 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS), published Nov. 18, 2022. All suppliers and providers who purchase and bill Medicare Part B separately payment medications (single dose container/package) are subject to the JZ modifier. The modifier is eligible for billing as of January 1, and CMS has given providers until July 1 to adopt it.

Hospitals are seeing trends with which no one in hospital management has experience: inflation rates above 5%, higher staff shortages, increased staffing costs, supply chain challenges, and more. Hospitalists have a proven benefit in reducing length of stay, improving with nursing and allied health staff, and finding other ways to reduce cost and utilization.

This summary of a January 2023 JACC article highlights the study finding that rosuvastatin was “vastly superior to… any of the six supplements studied in the trial.” The study compared rosuvastatin to cinnamon, garlic, turmeric, red yeast rice, fish oil, and plant sterols. Rosuvastatin yielded a reduction in cholesterol of nearly 38 percent in just 28 days. The supplements had little to no effect but were significantly more costly than the statin.

A 12-month controlled trial randomized 189 individuals to spend 70–90 minutes performing 11 exercises or 20–30 minutes performing 5 exercises for 3 months. Outcomes were measured biweekly for the intervention period and again at 6 and 12 months. The two approaches were similar, except for one outcome. In the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score for function in sports and recreation, high-dose therapy was superior.

In 60 medical centers, 1,500 patients were randomized to either a restrictive or liberal fluid strategy. The 90-day mortality rate was 14% in the fluid-restrictive group and 14.9% in the liberal group, equating to statistical equivalence between the two approaches.