By Brian J. Huber, DVM, ABVP

Did you know that …

• Cancer is the #1 cause of non-accidental death in your patients? (AVMA statistics)
• Cancer is the #1 concern of dog owners and the #2 concern of cat owners?
• Cancer care (diagnostics, therapeutics and long term case management) could generate more quality
  medical revenue than any other profit center in your practice?
• Treating just one case a month can have significant impact to your practices’ financial bottom line?
• The guidance and case management of a high quality, Board Certified Oncology Specialist is just a click away? 

Oncura Partners Online Case Management System (OCMS) was developed for the thousands of busy, quality veterinary practitioners whom desire to practice the highest level of medicine in their practices. Oncura Partners will elevate the level of care in any practice. We provide confidence to the doctor and staff in managing oncology cases. Oncura Partners can remove the barriers that have kept the vast majority of veterinarians from performing quality cancer care in their practice. Oncura Partners minimizes the issues involving OSHA requirements and handling/storage of cytotoxic agents.

Please read on to understand how cancer care is changing for the better. There is additional information available at www.oncurapartners.com. Click the “About Us” and “How Oncura Works” links on the home page for specific information regarding the Online Cancer Management System.

The average veterinarian will diagnose 5 new cases of cancer in dogs and 2.3 new cases of cancer in cats each month. This equals 88 cases for each veterinarian every year (Brakke Consulting – 2002 Cancer Study). How are you managing these cases? Do you have the proper and most current recommendations at your finger tips? Oncura Partners supplies all the required information from some of the most respected oncologists in the country. Your clients deserve the most up to date information that is specific to the cancer and medical condition of your patient. Oncura Partners tailors the treatment for each pet. We provide options for your client. We work in the REAL world.

Over 50% of the owners of these pets diagnosed with cancer, elect to pursue some form of treatment when provided the option. It is important to involve the medical oncologist early in the diagnosis, staging and treatment. There are often times when surgery (the veterinarians’ mainstay) is not the best initial step. Oncura Partners will direct the veterinarian and the client through the most critical steps of STAGING the patients’ cancer. What often seems like additional costs are the most important steps to the patient, client and oncologist.

Pet owners want to know “what are her chances”, “how long will she live with or without therapy” and “what is the best form of treatment?”. All of these questions are answered properly and more precisely AFTER the patient has been appropriately staged. This may include basic blood profiles, urinalysis, radiographs, ultrasound, biopsies, bone marrow aspirate all the way to CT or MRI’s. We need to understand where else the cancer may be located (metastasis) and what is the overall health status of this patient. We are often dealing with other geriatric health concerns along with cancer (chronic renal failure, heart disease, liver disease and endocrine disease). The more medical information the oncologist has, the better knowledge and ability to assess the patient providing a more accurate prognosis.

Oncura Partners is a web based cancer management system. We maintain a complete medical record of the patient. Our oncologists will work with you to diagnose, stage and select the most appropriate protocols for your patients. We provide the needed chemotherapy in “unit dose format” the exact dose needed for the patient (premixed) sent with the chemo safety gear with every order and the closed administration system in place for exquisite safety. We remove the inventory issues, mixing and storing on site of hazardous agents (which many veterinarians do not perform properly now).

Oncura Partners utilizes an e-mail reminder system for the client and your hospital. This keeps every one on track for the treatment cycle and rechecks. We send quality of life summaries to the clients for response 36 hours after chemotherapy. This way we can alert the hospital for adverse issues regarding the potential side effects of chemotherapy. There is a fee estimator within the OCMS to provide staging and treatment estimates for the client (after the veterinarian has entered their hospital fees for the services). This will truly expedite the decision process for all involved. (No more time wasted going to the office and estimating each protocol based upon human size volumes and pricing to cover waste of the drug and calling for current prices.)
We have all the client handouts about drug side effects and protocol descriptions printable from our site. We have an entire oncology text book on line for your staff and clients. Pages of the book can be printed for your client (they will go to the internet anyway). Our oncologists are involved with every decision point in your patients’ case management. This is true case management not an e-mail and we are gone. Some veterinarians have initially thought that this was too much involvement, but after they interact with the oncologist on their case, they realize that this communication and review provides another level of quality to their medicine.

Oncura Partners has known that the proper EARLY detection of cancer rests with the routine use (knowledge and full integration) of ultrasound in daily veterinary practice. Hence we have incorporated the only Remote Real-Time ultrasound service that provides most hospitals a method to confidently and ethically integrate ultrasound into a functional daily diagnostic tool.

The reason for this diagnostic division is that we know, once ultrasound is used in routine diagnostics for senior and geriatric patients as well as “adr” patients (dogs and cats) the ability to find and diagnose cancer dramatically increases.

There are many areas where ultrasound is integrated in practice other than oncology. We support and educate for all forms of ultrasound within our platform, from general abdominal to echocardiology. We support your practice with our unique model of Remote Real Time ultrasound. Please review this platform at: www.oncurapartners.com/Home.aspx

Finally, our site is not meant to replace the Oncology Specialist, however, there are realistically many cases a quality practice can perform and keep the client right in your hospital where they are most comfortable. The long term medical revenue from these oncology cases can stay with you also.

About the Author
Brian Huber has acquired over 28 years of experience in the practice of small animal Veterinary Medicine and the Business of Animal Health. His experience has dealt with advanced medical and diagnostic therapies and investigational products/devices. He has had the opportunity to work with veterinarians from across the U.S and Canada. A graduate of Kansas State University, College of Veterinary Medicine – 1986, He is a Founder/Partner of the Animal Hospital of Rowlett & Diagnostic Center, founded in 1988, and a Founder/Partner of the Animal Hospital of Heath, founded in 2005. His practice has been AAHA certified hospital since 1990. He has been certified by the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners in the Canine and Feline Specialty, since 1994. He and his partner have been Members of Veterinary Study Groups - VMG4 since 2001. He founded Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging in 1991 – the first mobile Ultrasound and Endoscopy service in Texas, which operated until 1994. He was a National Speaker/Educator for Luxar CO2 Lasers in small animal surgery, from 1996-2000. He is the President and Founder of Oncura Partners – an online cancer management system for small animal practitioners. Founded in 1999. He was the Chief Medical Officer and Consultant for Strategic Pharmaceutical Solutions from 2002 thru 2005. He had been the Chief Medical Officer for VetSource from 2003 thru 2011. He was the current Chief Medical Officer for Stason Animal Health, from 2008 - 2012. He is a partner and Chief Medical Officer in BioPharma Products, LLC since 2009 and currently holds this position. Most recently he is a current Partner in Oncura Partners Holdings, Inc. and Oncura Partners Diagnostics, LLC. 

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