Video

Dr Gary Owens: Payers Need to Be Doing More for Patients With PAH

Gary Owens, MD, president of Gary Owens Associates, addresses how payers can improve outcomes for persons who have pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

Gary Owens, MD, president of Gary Owens Associates, talks next steps payers can take to improve outcomes among persons living with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), including stepping up education effort and improving medication access.

Transcript

What can payers do to make progress against PAH?

This is a disease that is often misunderstood, underrecognized, and underdiagnosed. Hence, that 2- to 3-year journey from symptom onset. So I think payers can hopefully play a role here, too, by helping educate the community. Now, the problem is, trying to get this message across to primary care physicians who are very, very busy with many other things, including the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s easily possible for a disease that affects 5 to 10 per 1 million to get lost in the shuffle. But I think what it really does say, when these patients are identified by payers, getting case managers involved, and getting those case managers to coordinate that team approach I talked about, as well as making sure that patients have access to the proper pharmaceutical care, is what payers could and should be doing. Not only now but going forward.

Newsletter

Stay ahead of policy, cost, and value—subscribe to AJMC for expert insights at the intersection of clinical care and health economics.

Related Videos
Dr Sundar Jagannath
Hadar Avihai Lev-Tov, MD
Ayodeji Adegunsoye, MD, PhD, MSc
David J. Maron, MD, FASPC, Stanford University School of Medicine
Hadar Avihai Lev-Tov, MD
Senator Vincent Polistina (R, New Jersey)
Karen Vo talks about antibullying campaigns and pediatric patients with derm conditions
Screenshot of a webinar panel discussion with Viet Le, PA-C; Nathan Wong, PhD, MPH; Alison Bailey, MD; and Martha Gulati, MD, MS
Related Content
AJMC Managed Markets Network Logo
CH LogoCenter for Biosimilars Logo