Avella Specialty Pharmacy has been named to the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Companies List for the ninth straight year in a row, ranking at #2605. See more here. (Source: Avella Specialty Pharmacy, 8/12/15) […]
Will Pharmaceutical Pricing Legislation Help or Hinder?
A new Massachusetts bill seeks to reign in pharmaceutical costs with a first-in-the-nation cap on prices. Will this new legislation help fix the problem, or just dig a bigger hole? More here. (Source: Robert Weisman, The Boston Globe, 8/10/15) […]
Is Giving People Health Insurance Saving Money?
Supporters of the Affordable Care Act often describe how insuring all Americans will actually save money in the long run, but is this true? Find out here. (Source: Margot Sanger-Katz, The Upshot, 8/5/15) […]
Federal Judge Overrides FDA Threats of Misbranding Charges
U.S. federal judge may have just opened the door for pharmaceutical companies to discuss off-label uses of its medications. Read about the recent decision involving Amarin Corp's Vascepa, here. (Source: Anna Edney, BloombergBusiness, 8/7/15) […]
Medicare to Cover New Expensive Cancer Drug
Medicare finds Amgen's new cancer treatment drug, Blincyto, to be a substantial clinical improvement over existing treatment options. Blincyto, harnesses the body's immune system to help destroy cancer cells, making it totally different from any other approved drug. Find out more here. (Source: […]
Medicare Opens the Door for Costly Treatments
Amgen's Blincyto, a new pricey cancer medication will be covered by Medicare. The administration initially had no intention to cover the drug, which cost about $178,000 for a standard course of treatment. What changed their mind? Find out here. (Source: Dori Zweig, FierceHealthPayer, 8/10/15) […]
How Much Can HEOR Professionals Expect to Make?
Are you being paid a fair salary? Could you justify a higher salary? Hiring managers - is your company compensation appropriate? HealthEconomics.Com and Meditera.Com have just released the final report based on the industry's largest global salary survey for the HEOR and market access community. […]
Chiltern to Acquire Theorem Clinical Research
Chiltern recently announced a signed purchase agreement to acquire Theorem Clinical Research, another leading global contract research organization (CRO), in what has been called a mutually beneficial deal. Learn more here. (Source: Business Wire, 8/6/15) […]
Prescription Drug Spending Only 2% of Medicaid Spending
Despite all the talk about pharmaceutical costs & Medicaid, the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released details on Medicaid spending showing prescription drug cost accounting for only 2% of Medicaid's spending! So what other factors are driving Medicaid spending […]
NICE Restricts Access to New Hep C Treatments
Following a funding delay scheme for Gilead's Sovaldi, NICE recently released draft guidance for Bristol-Myers Squibb's Daklinza, with restricted use. Details available here. (Source: Ben Adams, PMLiVE, 7/29/15) […]
Express Scripts Adds More Exclusions to Formulary List
Express Scripts has again decided to expand the list of drugs that will be deliberately left off its national formulary, increasing the number that will not appear on next year's edition by 18 percent to 80 drugs. The pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) has not been as aggressive as rival CVS Health in […]
Big Things Happening to Improve Patient Care and Efficiency
Healthcare policy has been a hot topic in the U.S. lately, with promising policy developments on Capitol Hill and in the court system. See more here. (Source: Jeff Francer, PhRMA, 8/3/15) […]
Humana Introduces Predictive Model for Falls and Fractures
Dr. Phil Painter (Chief Medical Officer of Humana At Home) and Vipin Gopal (Enterprise Vice President of Clinical Analytics) share Humana’s patent-pending predictive model for identifying members at a high risk of falls and fractures. Watch this short video here. (Source: Humana, vimeo, July 2015) […]
Are We Ready For the Next Generation of Healthcare?
A new white paper by the Center for Data Innovation (CDI) and Health IT Now, stresses the importance of adherence to a framework of data governance for both genomics and precision medicine, allowing researchers and informaticists to conduct their explorations in a secure, meaningful, repeatable, […]
Payer Trends Impacting the Orphan Drug Market
The orphan drug market has been experiencing exponential growth, with payers facing an influx of new treatments with no signs of slowing down. Key payer trends show a need for demonstrating incomparable product value and enhancing commercialization strategies. Registration required to download […]
6 Ways to Improve Medication Adherence
There will always be some level of medication non-adherence, but with 50%-60% of patients currently not filling prescriptions or not taking them as prescribed, there is lots of room for improvement. See here for 6 beyond the pill examples of how we can improve adherence. (Source: Richard Prest, […]
Brits See American Healthcare As Insanely Confusing!
Most British people have never had to think about paying for medical procedures, but what would happen if they did? Find out here, when some Brits were asked to guess the cost of various health procedures in America. (Source: Hannah Jewell, BuzzFeed, 7/30/15) […]
FDA Releases Quality Metrics Guidance
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently released a draft guidance detailing how it plans to use quality metrics to improve its ability to conduct risk-based inspections and predict or mitigate potential drug shortages. Learn more here. (Source: Michael Mezher, RAPS, 7/28/15) […]
Good, Bad, or Indifferent on Drug Pricing
A value benchmark approach for newly launched drugs in the United States. Dr. Patti Peeples of HealthEconomics.Com recently interviewed Dr. Steve Pearson and Dr. Dan Ollendorf of ICER, to explore the goals behind (ETAP) and the implications for this new benchmark approach to drug pricing. See more […]
Medicare – Under Attack by Zombies?
Medicare turns 50 this week! America's right-wing politicians continue talking doom and gloom about Medicare's future, but are things really that bad? Find out more here. (Source: Paul Krugman, The New York Times, 7/27/15) […]
Oncology Experts Offer Solutions to Ease Patients Suffering
A group of 118 leading cancer experts are trying to ease the financial suffering of many American cancer patients who facing out-of-reach out-of-pocket costs. With many American's facing yearly out-of-pocket costs of more than half their families annual salary, the group says it is time for a […]
Get Immediate Access to Drug Pricing Information with ProspectoRx
ProspectoRx is a web-based application that provides immediate access to accurate, comprehensive drug pricing information, updated constantly throughout the day. Download the ProspectoRx fact sheet and learn how it can help your organization, here. (Source: Elsevier) […]
Do Oncology Experts Hold the Answers to Outrageous Pricing?
A group of 118 of America's leading cancer experts have drafted a prescription for reducing the high cost of cancer drugs and voiced support for a patient-based grassroots movement demanding action on the issue. See their recommendations here. (Source: Joe Dangor, Mayo Clinic) […]
How Will Pharmaceutical Companies Answer the Call for Price Justification?
With current exorbitant drug prices being continually introduced, pharmaceutical companies are coming under pressure with the introduction of so-called pharmaceutical cost transparency bills. Read more here. (Source: Andrew Pollack, The New York Times, 7/23/15) […]
Seeking Affordable Help With Fertility?
Avella Specialty Pharmacy and Fertility SOURCE Companies recently announce a new partnership to offer patients significant discounts on fertility drugs. Find out more here. (Source: Avella Specialty Pharmacy, 7/21/15) […]
FDA Urged to Weigh Patient Perspective in PDUFA Talks
Pew Charitable Trusts' senior director for health programs, Allan Coukell, noted that many stakeholders have been focused on the potential use of observational data, potentially through electronic health records (EHRs) and claims databases. Paid subscription required to view more, here. (Source: […]
How Does Aetna Support Evidence-Based Medicine?
This video featuring Dr. Henry Wei, Senior Medical Director, makes doctors aware of the latest scientific evidence to support effective patient care. Watch here. (Source: AHIP) […]
CER Collaborative Now Offering Flexible Option to Continuing Education
The Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) Collaborative will be offering new flexible options for people interested in its 19-hour continuing education program. More details available here. (Source: National Pharmaceutical Council, 5/13/15) […]
ICER Launches Drug Assessment Program for New FDA-Approved Drugs
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) recently announced an initiative to transform the way new drugs are evaluated and priced in the United States. Learn more here. (Source: ICER) […]
Gilead Pills Found Cost Effective at $1000/Day
A new report by an influential panel of 32 doctors and medical experts has found new Hepatits C drugs to be cost-effective given their benefits. What exactly does "cost-effective" mean and what impact will this have with health insurers? See more here. (Source: Doni Bloomfield, BloombergBusiness, […]
