CER Daily Newsfeed

Real-World Data in a Post-Pandemic World

(9/15, Surani Fernando, Medical Marketing & Media) reports “...As for the FDA, when asked via email about source-related challenges, the spokesperson responded: ‘In regards to real-world data sources, we find issues related to data reliability and clinical relevance, a need for linkage to other data sources, missing or “mistimed” data and insufficient capture of endpoints. For non-randomized study designs, issues include the threat of residual confounding, problems with index date (“zero time”) and use of an inappropriate comparator.’” Full

Three Outstanding Questions About CMS’s Ambitious New AHEAD Model

(9/14, Troyen A. Brennan, Health Affairs Forefront) comments “...As a hospital executive, your key strategy, perhaps your only strategy, has been to increase in size, gain leverage with insurers, bargain for better fee-for-service rates, and do more procedures. Working under a prospective budget blocks that strategy. So one might ask about Pennsylvania, would centers like UPMC in the west, and Jefferson or University of Pennsylvania in the East, be ready to abandon the fee-for-service revenue generation program for one based solely on value-based care that improves population management. I wish that were true, but it seems doubtful.” Full

Americans Overwhelmingly Support Medicare Drug Negotiations, But Biden Sees Little Political Boost

(9/15, Seung Min Kim and Linley Sanders, Associated Press) reports “...Three-quarters of Americans, or 76%, favor allowing the federal health care program for the elderly to negotiate prices for certain prescription drugs. That includes strong majorities of Democrats (86%) and Republicans (66%), according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. About one in five Americans are neutral on the issue, while 6% outright oppose it. But the same poll shows Biden's approval rating, at 40%, is about where it's been for the last year.” Full