Technology
The # of loci that we currently interrogate for Northstar Response.
What is >2,200.
The % of alterations that fall below 0.20% VAF?
What is '25%'
The # of other labs that have a Head 2 Head comparison?
What is 'zero'.
The Limit of Quantification (LoQ) for NS Response is ___.
What is '10'. (Note: Northstar Response results do NOT plot below 10)
_____ refers to the degree of agreement in detecting genomic alterations between liquid and tissue biopsy.
What is 'concordance'
This person is your main BTO contact for all billing questions.
Who is 'Tom Lewis'.
These are the tube types inside our test kit and the only ones we can accept.
What are streck tubes. (Note: 3 tubes in each kit, and we cannot accept ANY other tube type like lavender top/EDTA etc.)
These are 2 different places you can find the Response plot map in the portal.
What is the 'the right side of the screen' and what is 'open up full patient report'.
If providers are not compelled by our H2H data this option can be offered to help build confidence in our NS Select offering.
What is a 'Pilot'. (10 non billable cases, best practice: pre-printed stickers to place on kits and TRFs if possible)
The underlying technology that BTO uses to run both Northstar Select and Northstar Response is ____ and it allow us to achieve ____.
What are Quantitative Counting Templates (QCTs) and 'single molecule quantification'.
A type of amplification that tends to be targetable.
What is 'focal' amplication.
The # of patients with orthogonal reports.
What is '182'.
TMS can help inform a patient response to these three types of therapies.
What is I/O, targeted therapy and chemotherapy.
When we get questions about Response TMS correlation with imaging, we can cite the ongoing ____ study.
What is the 'North' study.
When insurance covers Northstar testing, like any other lab we are required to bill patient this... ____, ____, & ____.
What is any existing 'copay, coinsurance, or deductible that applies to that patient policy'.
This is the optimal needle gauge for blood collection.
What is '21 gauge' (this is optimal vs. 23 gauge butterfly needle which could compromise sample)
These are the 3 ways mobile phlebotomy can be requested.
What is 'check box in the portal' and what is 'hand writing mobile phlebotomy' on the TRF and what is 'call/email (833) 537-1819/support@northstaronc.com directly.'
For your Natera customers, both Altera and Signatera are ____ ____ while both NS Select and NS Response are ____ ____
What is 'tumor informed' and 'tumor agnostic'.
The Northstar testing approach combines the ___ of PCR with the ___ of NGS.
What is 'precision/sensitivity' and 'breadth'.
A reason that NS Select does not report out bTMB.
What is 'unreliability in blood' or what is 'you need an extremely large # of genes in order to accurately report it.
Northstar Select identifies ___% more SNVs/Indels than comparators.
What is '51%.
If a patient is not tolerating therapy well, they may opt to to remain on therapy if their NS Response TMS is _____.
What is 'decreasing' or 'stable'.
Unlike tissue biopsies, ctDNA liquid biopsies like Northstar Select can overcome _____ _____ challenges by capturing variations w/in a tumor and also differences b/w primary & met tumors.
What is tumor heterogeneity.
On the Northstar Financial Assistance Form, the only thing we require to verify income is this.
What is 'written household income (pre-tax)'. (no W2 required).
What are 2 reasons that would cause us to hold testing.
What is 'no test selected' and 'we received tubes with no blood' (Note: If tubes are NOT labeled sample is automatically cancelled and re-draw is required)
This is an ease of use portal feature that can help ensure patients don't miss needed Northstar testing.
What is 'setting email reminders'. (currently for Response only.... Select reminders 'coming soon')
While Guardant may be using methylation, there is no mention of them being able to achieve _____ ______ ______. This is what powers NS Response to report a precise TMS.
What is 'single molecule quantification'.
That only way to definitively determine if an alteration is CH (clonal hematopoiesis).
What is 'sequencing the buffy coat'.
A chromosomal loss or gain.
What is 'aneuploidy'.
NS Select had ___% null reports compared to ___% of null reports for competitors.
What is '11%' and '20%'. (2x less null reports!)
On imaging, when a tumor increases in size due to a patient immune response this is referred to as ___.
What is 'pseudo progression'.
The number of journal publications we have on NS Response.
What is '3'. 1. Analytic Validation in Nature'25 Ye et al. 2. Methylated ctDNA Quantification in JACS'24 (UF) 3. Methylated TRM correlates w/ I/O response in NSCLC in Clin Lung Cancer (UCSD) ... (+10 accepted Conf Abstracts)
Other than patient info, these are the other required pieces of information on our Financial Assistance Form.
What is # people in household & income (+ Best practice to encourage checking any and all extenuating circumstances.)
In addition to a peripheral draw, this type of draw is acceptable.
What is a 'port draw'.
This is the process for setting up a client on the portal.
What is 'email CS w/ provider name/account after ensuring they are correctly set up in Salesforce.'
2 potential pain points for Natera customers using Signatera for Treatment Response Monitoring (TMS) could be a longer ____ and having a high ____ rate.
What is 'TAT' and 'QNS'.
The # of times that we add QCTs into the testing process for Northstar Select?
What is '3' (extraction, library prep, and target enrichment)
A reason aneuploidy is clinically important?
What is 'aneuploidy typically does not respond to targeted therapy.'
NS Select identifies ___% more CNVs than comparators and if you back out CNLosses it still identifies ___% more.
What is '109%' and what is '38%'.
This is a consistent, widespread biomarker that is correlated w/clinical outcomes.
What is 'methylation'?
A main messaging point that can be shared from GI-ASCO/Dr. George poster is that a ____ ____ can be prognostic of O/S in advanced GI cases.
What is 'baseline TMS'. (<1,000 vs. >1,000) (note: this was based on Northstar Response v1 ~500 loci, not the current Northstar Response v2 >2,200 loci)
These are 3 terms or phrases to avoid during billing conversations with clients.
What is stating a '$0 or max out of pocket', 'free testing', and/or 'no balance billing'. (Note: we do NOT balance bill but the phrase can be confusing and not fully understood)
These are the 2 items inside our streck tubes.
What is 'anti-coagulent' and 'preservative'.
This newer feature can speed up the ordering process by eliminating clicks.
What is the 'capability to attach multiple documents.' (note: 1 field for path report, 1 field for all other docs)
When providers prefer GH 700+ & FMI 300+ gene assays we can share our 84 gene NS Select assay is 'right-sized' & optimized to be the most _____ _____ liquid biopsy based on our underlying patented and proprietary QCT technology.
What is 'clinically actionable'