Latest Conference Articles

A combination of different countries’ health systems can set an example for the United States to follow in efforts to restrain the ongoing increases in drug prices, explains Patricia Danzon, PhD, the Celia Moh Professor at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Patients, payers, and providers all view value in different ways, and they all need to be taken into account in value frameworks, said Ilene Hollin, PhD, MPH, the National Pharmaceutical Council and University of Southern California Schaeffer Center’s Postdoctoral Health Policy Fellow.

Coverage from the 2017 meeting of the American Association of Diabetes Educators.

Coverage from the 2017 meeting of the American Association of Diabetes Educators.

There are differences between cost effectiveness and affordability that people don't always understand. A drug may be cost effective but still not fall within the budget, explained Patricia Danzon, PhD, the Celia Moh Professor at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Medical bankruptcy is indefensible and even if patients are willing to bankrupt themselves to purchase a cure, doesn't mean that is how pricing and reimbursement of treatments should be handled, said Darius Lakdawalla, PhD, Quintiles Chair in Pharmaceutical Development and Regulatory Innovation at the School of Pharmacy at the University of Southern California

Jennifer Graff, PharmD, vice president of comparative effectiveness research at the National Pharmaceutical Council, discusses where payers receive their information and how it is used to make decisions about coverage and reimbursement.

Michael Sherman, MD, chief medical officer at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, discusses the challenges of moving towards performance-based risk-sharing agreements and where they would work best for certain treatments.

Alan Carter, PharmD, principal investigator and senior advisor at MRIGlobal, and adjunct faculty at University of Missouri—Kansas City School of Pharmacy discusses the influence of biosimilars and follow-ons in the insulin market and their reliability should be validated.

Legislators from both parties may have difficulty finding a common solution to high drug prices, but President Donald Trump could be instrumental in bringing prices down if he acts on his pledges, according to David M. Cutler, PhD, of Harvard University.

Data-sharing capabilities are important for faster communications and results that can greatly benefit the patient, says Robby Booth, senior vice president of research and development at Glytec.

Health technology assessment (HTA) is a tool that helps to objectively evaluate evidence, which levels the playing field for new therapies looking to demonstrate cost-effectiveness, according to Steve Pearson, MD, MSc, president of the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review. In doing so, stakeholders can better understand the balance between innovation and affordability.

Value frameworks are tools used to clarify cost-benefit tradeoffs in healthcare decisions, which means they can look very different depending on their intended audience, according to Clifford Goodman, PhD, moderator at the ACO Coalition spring live meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona, and senior vice president and director at the Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research at the Lewin Group.

In the 180-plus years Daughters of Charity has been in New Orleans, the health system has implemented a number of innovative ideas, from air-conditioned hospitals to community health networks, according to Michael Griffin, president and CEO. The future is looking even brighter as more patients become insured and gain access to care, he added.

Andrew Rhinehart, MD, chief medical officer at Glytec, discusses the transition from intermediate outcomes in diabetes research of glycemic results to harder outcomes that will benefit the patient financially and through their care.

CareMore is beginning to form innovative partnerships with companies like Lyft, while also strengthening its internal ability to provide more outreach, according to Sachin H. Jain, MD, MBA, president and CEO. Jain said that CareMore’s prepaid model allows it to fully manage every dollar it receives.

Patient engagement offers opportunities for shared decision making between visits, when those with diabetes or obesity make choices about food, exercise, or medication that affect health outcomes.

Legislators and Congress need to be pressured to achieve more price transparency in order to manage the high costs on insulin says Alan Carter, PharmD, principal investigator and senior advisor at MRIGlobal, and adjunct faculty at University of Missouri­—Kansas City School of Pharmacy.

Both political parties want to lower the price of drugs, but differ in how they think it should be done. Gail Wilensky, PhD, of Project HOPE, explained her opinion that spurring more competition would be a more successful approach than directly implementing price controls.

Data breaches and cyberattacks can have costly and damaging consequences for healthcare organizations, but there are some steps that can be taken to mitigate the risk and impact of these incidents, explained Lee Barrett, executive director of the Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission.

Ideally, researchers determining the clinical and economic effects of a new treatment would have both short-term and long-term data, explained Steve Pearson, MD, MSc, president of the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review. If not all of this data is available, however, they may have to use surrogate outcomes or perform indirect comparisons.

The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) is forging ahead with its COA Patient Advocacy Network (CPAN), says Rose Gerber, director of patient advocacy for COA. The network’s major focuses include increasing its presence and making it easier for community practices to get involved.

According to Eda Cengiz, MD, MHS, FAAP, associate professor of pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine, diabetes management technology is just beginning and can have a positive impact on the daily lives of diabetes patients.

By aligning payers to care about population health and social determinants of health, it will help improve the health of the community as a whole, said Michael Griffin, president and CEO of Daughters of Charity Services.

Though no country has a drug pricing system that would work perfectly in the United States, there are many components that could potentially be adapted for use here, like strengthened price negotiation abilities, said Clifford Goodman, PhD, moderator at the ACO Coalition spring live meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona, and senior vice president and director at the Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research at the Lewin Group.

Prescribers and pharmacies can encounter some unique challenges when specialty drugs are e-prescribed, but organizations like the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs are trying to make the process smoother, explained Laura Topor, president of Granada Health.

Informed consent is one of the principal values in healthcare, but it should include discussions about cost, said Jacqueline Glover, PhD, professor in the Department of Pediatrics and the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at the University of Colorado Denver. Glover also discussed the need to clarify the language surrounding end-of-life care.

The Trump administration’s healthcare priorities have mainly focused on replacing the Affordable Care Act or reforming Medicaid, leading to concerns that value-based purchasing efforts will be left in the dust, said David M. Cutler, PhD, of Harvard University.