Don't Miss NPC at ISPOR's 21st Annual International Meeting!

NPC will host a pre-conference symposium, present on various pressing health policy topics and exhibit at the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research’s 21st Annual International Meeting.

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NPC will host a pre-conference symposium, present on various pressing health policy topics and exhibit at the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research’s 21st Annual International Meeting (#ISPORDC), which will be held at the Washington Hilton in DC from May 21-25, 2016. Find out when, where and what NPC’s research team will be speaking about below so you don’t miss us. Hope to see you there!

NPC is sponsoring an educational symposium, “Budget Impact Analysis: An Acceptable Part of Value Assessments or a Discordant Concept?” (Room: Intl Ballroom East) on Sunday, May 22, at 5:15 pm ET. Dan Leonard, MA, president of NPC, will moderate an ideological clash on whether budget impact analyses (BIAs) should be included in value assessment as they can potentially have considerable influence on patients and society. Mr. Leonard will ask panelists: If BIAs shouldn’t be included, why not? And, should cost-effective treatments be viewed as investments and not part of annual budgeting? He’ll be joined in the debate by:

  • Darius N. Lakdawalla, PhD, Quintiles Chair, pharmaceutical development and regulatory innovation; professor, Sol Price School of Public Policy, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California (@USCPrice)
  • Peter J. Neumann, ScD, professor and director, Center for the Evaluation of Value and Risk in Health, Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies, Tufts Medical Center (@TuftsMedicalCtr)
  • Steven Pearson, MD, MSc, FRCP, president, Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (@icer_review)
  • Matt Salo, executive director, National Association of Medicaid Directors (@statemedicaid)

On Monday, May 23, at 11:00 am ET, NPC-sponsored research will be presented during “Use of Real-World Evidence in Payer Decision-Making: Fact or Fiction?” (Room: Lincoln). The panel will discuss how the growing volume of administrative data, electronic health records and other data platforms can provide valuable information on treatment decisions in the real world. However, despite many organizations building internal teams, forming research collaborations or investing in real-world evidence technologies, it remains unclear when and how real-world evidence is being used in formulary decision-making. Panelists will address how often the evidence is used, and under what circumstances it is (or is not) used. Speakers include:

  • Daniel Malone, RPh, PhD, professor of pharmacy, College of Pharmacy (@UAPharmacy); associate professor, Mel & Enid Zuckerman College (@UAPublicHealth), University of Arizona
  • Craig Mattson, MS, MBA, RPh, senior director, formulary development, Prime Therapeutics (@Prime_PBM)
  • John W. McKnight, PharmD, BCPS, director, HPS Clinical Strategies, Humana (@Humana)
  • Steven G. Avey, RPh, MS, FAMCP, vice president, specialty pharmacy, MedImpact (@MedImpact)

On Tuesday, May 24, at 2:15 pm ET, Dr. Dubois will participate in an issue panel, “How Do Culture, Values, and Institutional Context Shape the Methods and Use of Economic Evaluation?” (Room: Intl Ballroom Center). The speakers will explore how a better understanding of culture, values and institutional context can help to explain why the methods and use of economic evaluation vary across countries. Additionally, the panel will discuss whether the insights gained can help the United States and other countries that are contemplating greater use of economic evaluation in their health care decision-making processes. Dr. Dubois will be joined by:

  • Michael Drummond, MCom, DPhil, professor, health economics, Centre for Health Economics, University of York (@CHEyork)
  • Aleksandra Torbica, PhD, professor, Bocconi University (@Unibocconi)
  • Peter J. Neumann, ScD, professor and director, Center for the Evaluation of Value and Risk in Health, Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies, Tufts Medical Center (@TuftsMedicalCtr)

On Wednesday, May 25, at 8:30 am ET, Mike Ciarametaro, MBA, director of research at NPC, will speak during an issue panel, “Are Alternative Financing Approaches Needed for Innovative Therapies?” (Room: Georgetown). Speakers will discuss how no single payer has clinical and financial responsibility for the entirety of a patient’s life because the U.S. health care system is divided among three main payer types (i.e., commercial, Medicare, Medicaid). At the same time, the chronic disease burden in the U.S. is growing with approximately 50 percent of the U.S. population over 18-years-old having one or more chronic conditions. While treatment often begins closer to the disease onset, the most significant outcomes occur well after disease onset in many chronic conditions. The separation between treatment start and key outcomes creates the potential for one payer to bear treatment costs, while a different payer benefits from the savings. The division of benefits and costs contributes to affordability concerns. For example, would the affordability of hepatitis C treatments been a concern if the majority of benefits occurred within one or two years of treatment? Mr. Ciarametaro will discuss alternative financing approaches with:

  • Noam Y. Kirson, PhD, vice president, Analysis Group, Inc. (@analysisgroup)
  • Jeff Myers, MBA, president & CEO, Medicaid Health Plans of America (@MHPA)
  • John Michael O'Brien, PharmD, MPH, vice president, public policy, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (@CareFirst)

NPC’s research also will be illustrated in poster presentations:

  • May 24, 6:45 pm - 7:45 pm: Assessing The Effect Of Formulary Restrictions On Antihyperglycemic Drugs (PDB77)
  • May 25, 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm: Do Journal Editors Perceive Real-World Evidence as Valuable or Not? (PHP153)
  • May 25, 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm: New Tools for New Challenges: Improving the Utility of Comparative Effectiveness Research in Decision-Making (PHP163)
  • May 25, 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm: Availability Of Cost Effectiveness Information On The Highest-Cost Drugs And Procedures In The United States (PHP146)          
  • May 25, 12:30 pm - 1:30 pm: Estimating the Lifetime Price of Pharmaceuticals: What Are the Long-Term Costs to Society? (PHP86)

Finally, be sure to visit us at our exhibit booth (#96) to pick up NPC’s latest health policy research!