LOS ANGELES, June 24, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- OPN Healthcare has signed an agreement with UCI Health, the clinical enterprise of the University of California, Irvine, to provide patients of OPN network physician groups with access to clinical trials being conducted by UCI Health.
Offering the 2.6 million enrollees that OPN serves with improved access to oncology related clinical trials is an integral component of OPN's comprehensive population health platform for cancer care. OPN believes that this partnership with UCI Health will offer more community oncology patients the ability to participate in leading edge clinical research normally limited to a restricted population. By giving them improved ways to participate in these trials, OPN will expand opportunities to receive new and innovative therapies for many underserved communities, and ensure patients receive off-labeled treatments in an IRB-approved, safe and protected environment.
Payers will also see notable benefits from expanded clinical trials as these programs often result in lower costs and improved patient outcomes. Significant research suggests that oncology patients do better when they participate in clinical trials due to improved healthcare provider access and more structured monitoring for treatment response and adverse effects. OPN's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Anthony Lam, believes that, "Our collaboration with UCI Health is an important step in bringing precision medicine closer to our local communities and ensuring there is equity of access to cutting-edge treatments. This is especially important for our underserved patients, many of whom face social, logistical and financial barriers to higher-level care."
As Dr. Lam notes, "OPN's own clinical trials program has been successful in bringing new studies to community oncologists, but no single program will have access to all applicable studies. By building bridges to other programs that offer innovative and promising new therapies, OPN will provide the best opportunities for all the patients in the OPN system."
This is part of a much larger effort by OPN to expand clinical trial access to the patients of its network physician groups. OPN has relationships with other leading academic research institutions on a similar basis as the UCI Health agreement. Patients today have OPN coordinated access to 44 clinical trials, 10 of which are currently being conducted at UCI Health.
OPN Healthcare is a technology enabled specialty healthcare services company focused on cancer care. A leading oncology physician network, OPN fosters sustainable relationships between payers, physicians and patients. Established in 1999 and headquartered in Southern California, it manages over 2.6 million enrollees in four states. OPN provides infrastructure, insights and knowledge to manage and align networks via an IPA model for medical oncology care within its community-based oncology networks.
For more information, contact George Skarpelos at (323) 301-6406 or [email protected].
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George Skarpelos, OPN Healthcare, 1 3233016406, [email protected]
SOURCE OPN Healthcare
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