The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) is drawing a line in the sand: independent physician practices are the backbone of accessible, personalized cancer care, and policymakers need to act now to keep them viable. With hospital consolidation on the rise and independent clinics struggling under financial strain, the stakes for patient choice have never been higher.
COA is urging policymakers to protect physicians’ ability to independently manage their practices, clinical decisions with patients
Physician independence is fundamentally about protecting the relationship between patients & their doctors, as well as about making operational decisions for their individual practices.”— COA President Debra Patt, MD, PhD, MBA, FASCO
WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, November 3, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) is making a direct appeal to federal and state lawmakers: safeguard the ability of physicians to run their own practices and make clinical choices alongside their patients, free from interference by government agencies, insurers, hospitals, or business partners. The call comes as independent oncology practices face unprecedented headwinds that threaten their survival.
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According to the position statement, Physician Independence & Decision Making, released today, physician autonomy is a cornerstone of ensuring that cancer patients receive treatment plans tailored to their unique circumstances. The document argues that true independence isn’t just about clinical authority—it also requires the freedom to select the organizational and financial structures needed to keep a practice sustainable.
COA warns that policies restricting access to capital and management support could accelerate the trend of hospital consolidation. That shift, the organization cautions, would ultimately limit patient access to high-quality, affordable cancer care delivered in their own communities.
“Physician independence is fundamentally about protecting the relationship between patients and their doctors, as well as about their independence in making operational decisions for their individual practices,” said Debra Patt, MD, PhD, MBA, FASCO, president of COA. “Preserving independent community oncology practices gives patients more choices about where and how they receive their cancer care, and policymakers should be working to protect those choices.”
The pressure on independent oncology practices is mounting from multiple directions. Inadequate Medicare reimbursement rates, soaring costs for cancer treatments, and heavy investments required for technology, staffing, and clinical services are squeezing margins. To adapt, many practices are exploring new operational models—forming clinically integrated groups, seeking alternative capital sources, or partnering with management services organizations to gain administrative expertise and financial backing while retaining physician ownership and clinical control.
“Years of inadequate Medicare reimbursement have made it increasingly difficult for independent practices to keep pace with the rising costs of delivering cancer care,” said Ted Okon, executive director of COA. “Policymakers must modernize how Medicare reimburses physicians to reflect the realities of running a community oncology practice today. At the same time, physicians should have the flexibility to access the capital and management resources needed to remain independent, rather than being pushed toward hospital ownership simply to keep their doors open.”
The new statement lays out five guiding principles: preserving a physician’s choice of practice model, protecting shared decision-making between doctors and patients, and maintaining physician authority over operations that affect patient care. COA also calls for ownership transparency and accountability across all practice models, along with enforceable safeguards to ensure physicians retain meaningful clinical and operational control.
Looking ahead, COA is pressing policymakers to protect physician independence by preserving responsible financing arrangements, preventing outside interference in patient care, and revising payment policies that threaten the viability of independent community oncology. The organization says it will continue to release formal position statements on issues that impact access to local, affordable cancer care.
Read the full COA position statement on Physician Independence & Decision Making at https://mycoa.communityoncology.org/publications/position-statements/physician-independence-and-decision-making-position-statement
Why it matters
As hospital systems absorb more independent practices, patients may see fewer options for where they receive cancer care—and potentially higher costs. COA’s stance frames physician independence not just as a professional issue, but as a patient-access issue. Without policy changes to reimbursement and capital access, the choice of where and how to get cancer treatment could narrow significantly in the coming years.
Julie McDowell
Community Oncology Alliance
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