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Cancer Therapy Pathways Program

Detailed, evidence-based regimens for providers in cancer care. Health care professionals, learn how you can participate in the Cancer Therapy Pathways Program today.

Care providers can help enhance quality and value in cancer care, and earn rewards, through our Cancer Therapy Pathways program. Cancer Therapy Pathways are detailed, evidence-based regimens associated with better clinical outcomes that we’ve selected through rigorous evaluation for specific cancer types and states.

The pathways

Explore the full list of the cancer therapy pathways and regimens 

Interactive guide

Access our self-paced guide for everything you need to know about the program

How to participate

Review the eligibility and reward information. Then, submit a new prior authorization request and select the appropriate regimen. Track your participation in the Optum® Cancer Guidance Program (CGP) tool.

Eligibility

Submit your prior authorization requests for chemotherapy or related therapies through the CGP tool for patients who are UnitedHealthcare Community Plan, UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage or UnitedHealthcare commercial plan members. Providers in all states are eligible to use our Cancer Therapy Pathways.

Note: Pathway selection isn't required to receive prior authorization approval for therapy.

Rewards

The rewards program is currently only available for participating commercial plans.*

We’ll pay you $1,000 cash for each pathway regimen you follow. You must achieve the following in the 6-month measurement period (January–June and July–December):

  • A pathway adherence of at least 75%
  • A minimum of 5 prior authorizations

*Excludes Hawaii, North Carolina, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Contract amendment required to receive program rewards in California, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia. For all eligibility information, please see the Cancer Pathways Program: Terms and Conditions.

How we develop the pathways

Strong basis


We use a comprehensive literature review of all National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN)-recommended regimens.

Careful selection


We select regimens by efficacy, safety/toxicity and medication drug cost, which we only review when efficacy and safety between regimens are comparable. We also use our member data to better understand the typical duration of therapy, hospitalization rates and total cost of care.

Expert evaluation


The UnitedHealthcare Oncology Advisory Committee and disease-specific expert consultants review and evaluate each therapy pathway. We select the members of this committee for their clinical expertise and diverse perspectives. The Committee includes practicing medical oncologists from academic medical centers and community oncology practices.

Questions?

Email unitedoncology@uhc.com or chat with a live advocate 7 a.m.–7 p.m. CT from the UnitedHealthcare Provider Portal.