Humana's Your Practice

Humana Offers Quality Oncology Program

The Quality Oncology (QO) program supports Humana members who have been diagnosed with cancer to become better educated about their illness, understand their treatment options and manage the side effects of their condition.

This telephonic disease management program, which is administered by Quality Oncology, is initiated as soon as members are diagnosed with cancer and agree to participate in the program. Nurses are available to provide proactive counseling and pain management to assist members during active treatment through recovery or end of life.

“The QO program provides additional support and education for program participants at a very stressful time in their lives,” said Kathy Ross, R.N., B.S.N., C.C.M., clinical director of the Corporate Disease Management Department at Humana.

Key components of the QO program include:

The proactive management of the treatment of side effects, such as pain and dehydration, to prevent rehospitalization.
The optimization of outpatient treatment options, such as home health resources for chemotherapy and encouraging an open discussion between the program participant and the network physician regarding the appropriate time for hospice services.

QO nurses also support physicians and other care providers in the Humana network by building relationships with program participants in order to educate them about treatment compliance and signs and symptoms that may require intervention.

Humana members with cancer are eligible for the QO program if they meet the following criteria:

Active cancer treatment planned or complex cancer care required pre-hospice
Age 18 or over
Recurring cancer requiring treatment
Verbal agreement to participate

Humana’s Disease Management Department provides oversight for all Humana disease management programs. This proactive oversight includes the following:

Regular review of program outcomes
Participant satisfaction surveys
On-site vendor evaluations
Contractual compliance reviews

For more information about Humana’s disease management programs, contact your local market medical director.

The program is not applicable to Humana members:

With basal or squamous cell skin cancer
Being treated for early stage thyroid cancer
Whose only treatment is hormone therapy

Humana’s QO program is accredited by the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (URAC) and the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).

For more information about Humana’s QO program, contact your local market medical director.