Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is teaming up with precision medicine company Medzown to make it easier for members with complex conditions to participate in clinical trials.
In the partnership, Medzown's tech stack will identify the members that are most likely to benefit from a novel therapy for their condition, and then match them with potential clinical trials. The company will then deploy a team of scientists, clinical trial experts and care navigators to work alongside the patient and their care team through the process.
Jennifer Levin Carter, M.D., the CEO of Medzown, told Fierce Healthcare that there's no shortage of new drugs and therapies coming through the pipeline for complex diseases like cancer, but access is a significant challenge.
"The next frontier for precision medicine is making sure that the right patient can actually get access," Carter said.
BCBSMA will notify members of their eligibility for the program, and participation is voluntary. The program is offered at no additional cost for members.
Karl Laskowski, M.D., vice president for clinical programs and strategy at BCBSMA, said in an interview that complex diseases like cancer are often scary and difficult for patients to navigate, and clinical trials offer access to therapies or care they "wouldn’t have otherwise at their disposal."
"It is not always clear what to do, and there’s a lot coming at you," he said. "We want to show up as a trusted ally, making sure that we are filling a need there for people to get advice, taking advantage of whatever may be the most appropriate."
The insurer said that the partnership with Medzown builds on its existing work to manage complex diseases. For example, in June, BCBSMA entered a value-based care contract with Thyme Care, offering its services as an extension of the patient's current care team.
It's BCBSMA's first specialty-specific value-based care relationship, the insurer said.
Laskowski said that it's early days for the partnership with Medzown, but the team is gathering feedback on what's working and what's not to continue improving and building on this foundation.
Carter echoed the sentiment, saying that while there's likely "tremendous opportunity" to grow from here, the focus is on making sure the current program is functioning at the highest level for the members it serves.
She added that the Medzown team believes that a precision medicine data layer will be critical to healthcare more broadly as the treatment for complex disease becomes more and more personal.
"Treatment of cancer has totally changed for many cancer types," she said. "It has turned into a disease that can be managed on a long-term and chronic basis."
"We need to be able to integrate that ... so that these great and fabulous new esoteric therapies get into the continuum of care," Carter said.