AMCP Nexus 2014: Connecting Health Care and Innovation

Attending the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy's Nexus 2014? Be sure to check out the following sessions:

On Tuesday, October 7, from 8:00 am – 3:00 pm, NPC Chief Science Officer Robert W. Dubois, MD, PhD, will participate in the AMCP Foundation Symposium, "Specialty Pharmacy and Patient Care: Are We at a Tipping Point?"

On Tuesday, October 7, from 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm, the CER Collaborative's Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) Certificate Program, Advancing Use of CER to Improve Health Outcomes, will wrap up the course with a live 4-hour case presentation session. (To attend this pre-conference program, you must complete 19 hours of CE credit and 5 online modules to receive the final 4 credit hours and certificate.)

On Wednesday, October 8, at 10:00 am, "Best Practices for Assessing the Value of Drugs for Formulary Decisions" will discuss the challenges in assessing value, provide a conceptual framework that can serve as a “best practice" method for performing an assessment of value, and suggest ways by which value determination can be integrated into medical policy decisions. Panelists include:

• Steven D. Pearson, MD, MSc, Founder and President, Institute for Clinical and Economic Review
• Sean Karbowicz, PharmD. RPh, Director of Policy and Clinical Business Development, OmedaRx
• James Murray, PhD, Research Fellow, Global Health Outcomes, Eli Lilly and Company

On Thursday, October 9, at 4:15 pm, NPC Chief Science Officer Robert W. Dubois, MD, PhD, will present on the panel "Evaluating Companion Diagnostics Using Comparative Effectiveness Research." The discussion will provide an overview of the key factors necessary to evaluate these tests, introduce a novel tool for identifying the key value drivers for companion diagnostics, and provide insights on approaches to triage evidence review and improve efficiency. He will be joined by:

• John Watkins, PharmD, MPh, BCPS, Pharmacy Manager, Formulary Development, Premera Blue Cross
• David Veenstra, PharmD, PhD, Professor and Director, Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy Program, Department of Pharmacy, University of Washington (moderator)