Latest Conference Articles

At the 2017 Community Oncology Conference, participants discussed the impact of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) on oncology drug prices and patient access to much needed treatments.

The playing field regarding Medicare reimbursement and drug pricing has to be leveled between hospitals and community oncologists in order for physicians to compete for patients on the basis of the quality of care they provide,

The first drugs for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) won't be approved until 2019 at the earliest, but with 16 million Americans affected and another 6 million to 10 million at high risk, the market could be expensive and it's worth keeping an eye on, said Aimee Tharaldson, PharmD, senior clinical consultant for emerging therapeutics at Express Scripts.

By understanding the biology of myeloma tumor cells, researchers can better develop therapies, including drug combinations, that target the complex mechanisms at play in the disease, according to Shaji Kumar, MD, professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic.

As the use of e-prescribing expands, it will begin to encompass more than just writing an initial prescription to include many interactions between healthcare providers, according to Doug Hillblom, PharmD, president at Arena Healthcare, LLC.

When employing immunotherapies, oncologists must be vigilant in spotting any adverse events and calling in their colleagues, like dermatologists or pulmonologists, to help manage these toxicities, according to Matthew Gubens, MD, MS, assistant clinical professor of thoracic oncology at the University of California, San Francisco.

The Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA) heavily relies on member organizations throughout the development and implementation of new quality measures, explained Matthew Pickering, PharmD, RPh, associate director of research and quality strategies at PQA.

Richard J. Willke, PhD, chief science officer of ISPOR, previews the discussions at the ISPOR 22nd Annual International Meeting, which will be held May 20-24 in Boston, Massachusetts, including topics on the future of health policy in the United States and social networking interventions.

Real-world results for hepatitis C drugs have been very closely aligned to the clinical trial outcomes, which is likely due to a combination of factors, such as the effectiveness of the agents and better knowledge of using direct-acting antivirals, according to Gail Bridges, PharmD, of Accredo Health.

The Million Hearts initiative, with its goal of preventing a million cardiovascular events in 5 years, requires sustained efforts by cardiologists in conjunction with public health experts to achieve success, explained Janet Wright, MD, FACC, the program’s executive director.

After presenting the results of the REACH eCounseling hypertension intervention at the American College of Cardiology 66th Scientific Session, lead author Rob Nolan, PhD, CPsych, director of Cardiac eHealth at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre and clinical psychologist and scientist at the Toronto General Research Institute, discussed his team’s plans for future eCounseling research.

The market for tardive dyskinesia, a movement disorder affecting 500,000 patients in the United States, will go from zero approved treatments to 2 in 2017, making it an important area to watch, said Aimee Tharaldson, PharmD, senior clinical consultant for emerging therapeutics at Express Scripts.

With a new administration in the White House and the issue of repealing or replacing the Affordable Care Act not completely addressed, managed care pharmacists should feel heartened to know their voices and concerns are being heard, said Susan A. Cantrell, RPh, CAE, CEO of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy.

At the American College of Cardiology 66th Scientific Session, Seth J. Baum, MD, FACC, FACPM, FAHA, FNLA, FASPC, president of the American Society for Preventive Cardiology, discussed why insurers are so reluctant to approve coverage of PCSK9 inhibitors and how this hesitance could harm patients who are denied access to the cardiovascular drugs.

The Million Hearts initiative, which aims to prevent a million cardiovascular events in a 5-year period, will focus on utilizing its partnerships with health systems and employers as it embarks upon its second phase, according to Janet Wright, MD, FACC, the program’s executive director.

Robert P. Giugliano, MD, MSc, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, discussed the findings of the EBBINGHAUS study on evolocumab’s effect on cognition, which he presented at the American College of Cardiology 66th Scientific Session. He also explained how that study was related to the highly-anticipated FOURIER trial.

Panelists, during a session on value and value-based reimbursement at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy Annual Meeting, held March 27-30 in Denver, Colorado, discussed the benefits and challenges of value-based contracting and the current and evolving use of value frameworks.

Since the Republican bill to repeal and replace Obamacare never made it to a vote, insurers are still very uncertain about the future of healthcare. At this time it is unclear whether Republicans plan to shore up the law or actively undermine it.

Richard Mullvain, RPh, BCPS (AQC), CCCC, a cardiovascular clinical pharmacist and expert in cardiovascular care at the Essentia Health Heart & Vascular Center in Duluth, Minnesota, delivered a focused clinical review on the topic of the PCSK9 inhibitor Repatha (evolocumab), and its impact on low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C).

At the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado, Kevin C. Maki, PhD, CLS, FNLA, FTOS, FACN, of Midwest Biomedical Research/Center for Metabolic and Cardiovascular Health in Chicago, Illinois, discussed methods of quantifying treatment effects in cardiovascular outcomes trials.

Rates of e-prescribing access is higher among pharmacists than physicians, which is partly due to older physicians at the end of their career who find implementing the system cost prohibitive, explained Doug Hillblom, PharmD, president at Arena Healthcare, LLC.

During an industry workshop at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado, Cliff Goodman, PhD, of the Lewin Group, moderated a session that provided a health economic case study on cardiovascular outcome data for Repatha (evolocumab), the PCSK9 inhibitor from Amgen.

New targeted therapies reduce waste and identify patients that will benefit most, but their high price tags have left the healthcare industry scrambling to figure out how to pay for these treatments and cures.

The creation and implementation of a new quality measure is a long process that includes considering other measures on the market, actually developing the measure and, ultimately, testing its scientific acceptability, explained Matthew Pickering, PharmD, RPh, associate director of research and quality strategies at the Pharmacy Quality Alliance.

In a session covering the future of the business of healthcare in the United States, Kevin Grabenstatter, managing director for L.E.K. Consulting, asserted that healthcare is an unsustainably big business, which means that change is coming.

There is a trend of making value-based deals to pay for treatments in order to ensure the drug works as advertised while also protecting payers from financial risk, explained Richard J. Willke, PhD, chief science officer of ISPOR.

Liz Zhou, MD, director of evidence-based medicine at Sanofi Medical Affairs outlined the purpose of a study on real-world results of comparing basal insulin dose changes in type 2 diabetes patients using Lantus who either stay on Lantus or switch to Toujeo.

Value frameworks are one tool that can be used to inform the formulary decision-making process, but transparency in the development of these frameworks is important, said Susan A. Cantrell, RPh, CAE, CEO of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP).