AJMC® in the Press, December 21, 2018

The Associated Press highlighted a study published in The American Journal of Accountable Care, a sister publication of The American Journal of Managed Care^® (AJMC^®). The study, “Increased Healthcare Utilization and Expenditures Associated With Chronic Opioid Therapy,” assessed the link between the transition from incident opioid use to incident chronic opioid therapy with the pattersn of healthcare use and spending. The researchers found that transferring to chronic opioid therapy can place a significant burden on payers and patients in terms of healthcare utilization and expenditures.

An article from Healthcare Dive included the AJMC^® published study “Mixed Messages to Consumers From Medicare: Hospital Compare Grades Versus Value-Based Payment Penalty.” The study found that many hospitals with a heart failure and acute myocardial infarction readmission grade of “no different” than the national rate on Hospital Compare received penalties for excessive admissions under the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program.

Health IT Security included a study published by AJMC^® focusing on data breaches. The study, “Data Breach Locations, Types, and Associated Characteristics Among US Hospitals,” found that despite the high level of hospital adoption of electronic health records and the federal incentives to do so, the most common type of data breach in hospitals occurred with paper records and films.

On Monday, OBR Oncology’s daily newsfeed mentioned an article from The Center for Biosimilars^®, a sister site of AJMC^®. The article, “FDA Approves Celltrion and Teva’s Trastuzumab Biosimilar, Herzuma,” reported on the FDA’s approval of the biosimilar trastuzumab referencing Herceptin for the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer.

The National Pharmaceutical Council’s (NPC’s) Monday CER Daily Newsfeed included an AJMC^® interview with Robert Daly, MD, MBA, medical oncologist, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. During the interview, Daly explained the importance of updating clinical pathways with new data.

Tuesday’s CER Daily Newsfeed included AJMC^®’s article, “Report Assesses Degree of Alignment Between ASCO, ESMO Oncology Frameworks,” which reported on a joint assessment comparing the results of value frameworks from the 2 oncology organizations. The assessment concluded that the frameworks produce comparable measures of the clinical benefits of new cancer therapies in roughly two-thirds of more than 100 drug comparisons examined. The newsfeed also included part of AJMC®’s peer exchange on best practices in the utilization of novel agents in metastatic breast cancer. During the clip, experts provide a clinical evaluation of the safety and efficacy of 3 cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 inhibitors: ribociclib, palbociclib, and abemaciclib.

Going Below the Surface, an initiative from NPC, included a study published in AJMC^® in its monthly newsletter. The study, “Understanding and Improving Value Frameworks With Real-World Patient Outcomes,” concluded that new value frameworks should incorporate real-world evidence that reflects patient treatment behavior, adherence to medication, and equity concerns arising from disparities in care.