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Episode 1 - The Advent of Cancer Immunotherapy: Addressing Unmet Needs
In a discussion moderated by Peter Salgo, MD, panelists Jeffrey Weber, MD, PhD, Michael Kolodziej, MD, and Daniel J. George, MD, share their insights and perspectives about cancer immunotherapy in the managed care setting.
Dr Salgo opens up the discussion with some facts about cancer and claims that cancer is currently recognized as the “global pandemic” that killed more than 600,000 US persons in 2012 alone. Despite its deep history, the potential of cancer immunotherapy has only been tapped into recently. Due to the high costs of treatment, cancer immunotherapy is debatable. Dr Salgo explains that a majority of the immunotherapy drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration cost over $100,000 per year.
Regardless of these costs, Dr George believes we need to take advantage of this therapy option, as it has proved more effective than standard therapy options such as chemotherapy and radiation when treating several types of cancer.
Dr George continues the discussion with an explanation about how cancer immunotherapy works. Dr Weber concludes by defining immunotherapy as a “targeted therapy,” and cites Provenge, a targeted therapy cancer vaccine, as an example.
Navigating Health Policy in an Election Year: Insights From Dr Dennis Scanlon
April 2nd 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with Dennis Scanlon, PhD, the editor in chief of The American Journal of Accountable Care®, about prior authorization, price transparency, the impact of health policy on the upcoming election, and more.
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Prices for care at hospital trauma centers vary across hospitals; drug shortages reached a record high during the first quarter of 2024; although 3 of the biggest makers of asthma inhalers pledged to cap out-of-pocket costs for some US patients at $35, these do not apply to daily inhalers used by the youngest kids with asthma.
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Exploring Medicare Advantage Prior Authorization Variations
March 26th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the March 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on variations in prior authorization use across Medicare Advantage plans.
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Beyond Insulin: The Impact of Next-Generation Diabetes Technology
April 17th 2024Experts explain how new diabetes technologies like continuous glucose monitors are transforming care beyond intensive insulin therapy, offering personalized insights and improving outcomes for patients of all treatment levels.
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The Biden administration recently launched the Global Health Security Strategy, a new effort to combat the spread of infectious diseases; lawmakers zeroed in on the risks of massive consolidation in health care during the first congressional hearing on the Change Healthcare hack; the FDA recently announced the recall of a pair of heart devices linked to numerous deaths and injuries.
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