Palliative Care

Panel 21 - (INTERACTIVE) Use of Advanced Technologies in Palliative Care: A Brave New World or a Costly Mistake?

Moderator(s)

• 

  Candice Johnstone, MD, MPH

  Medical College of Wisconsin
• LH

  Lauren Hertan, MD, MS

This session was proudly submitted as a joint session with SPRO. ASTRO has recently published evidence-based clinical practice guidelines on commonly encountered clinical scenarios for palliative care in radiation oncology practice including bone, lung and brain metastases. In each of these areas there is controversy over the proper role of highly conformal therapies such as stereotactic radiosurgery or IMRT in palliative care. Given the rapid evolution and utilization of technology paralleled with increased oversight and restriction of reimbursement from payors, radiation oncologists can be confused over the appropriate use of advanced technologies. When the clinical scenario is truly palliative, then treatment should be as cost-effective and time efficient as possible.

In this session, we will review data on palliative radiation therapy and therapeutic results with both conventional techniques and SRS/SBRT. Presenters will discuss the status of data, benefits and risks of varying treatment strategies and implications in terms of quality of care and reimbursement.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe relevant issues in terms of quality of care and cost.
• Discriminate between patients who will benefit from high-dose very conformal palliative approaches and those who will not.
• Describe when the simplest, shortest, most cost effective treatment approach is in a patient''s best interest.

Presentations:

• 3:15 PM - 3:30 PM

  Introduction
  Speaker: Candice Johnstone, MD, MPH – Medical College of Wisconsin
  
• 3:30 PM - 3:45 PM

  Keep it simple ...
  Speaker: Peter Hoskin, MD – Mount Vernon Hospital
  
• 3:45 PM - 4:00 PM

  Appropriate use of advanced technologies
  Speaker: Simon Lo, MB, ChB, FACR, FASTRO – University of Washington
  
• 4:00 PM - 4:15 PM

  Radiation therapy at the end of life
  Speaker: Jared Robbins, MD
  
• 4:15 PM - 4:30 PM

  Cost and Quality Considerations
  Speaker: Kristopher Dennis, MD, PhD
  
• 4:35 PM - 4:45 PM

  Audience Q&A
  Speaker: Candice Johnstone, MD, MPH – Medical College of Wisconsin