E.V.I.dently® | March 2022
In this issue: Measuring the impact of innovation, new resources to navigate health spending research and policy-making, good practices for HDHPs and a busy spring event calendar.
Featured
Health policy can often seem arcane or abstract, but in reality, health policy decisions have a pragmatic, real-world impact on the innovation that benefits patients. A recent study from NPC and RTI Health Solutions, published in the Expert Review of Pharmacoeconomics & Outcomes Research, brought that impact to life.
The study explored what might have happened if innovative treatments that emerged between 1990 and 2017 had not reached patients. The study shows how major drug innovations changed the course of health for people with heart disease, lung cancer, breast cancer, HIV infection, type 2 diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis.
The impact of innovation is also the focus of NPC’s new video series featuring patient advocates, researchers, and other stakeholders. In these videos, experts discuss why a continued push for innovation is essential to improving health. While patient experiences may be most visible during national observances, like the recent Rare Disease Week, the need for new treatments is felt every day by those living with challenging conditions.
Learn more about the impact of innovation in our blog post about the NPC/RTI-HS study.
NPC Highlights
Getting Health Spending Right with New Resources
What makes a good analysis or a well-crafted policy on health spending? For all the debate and headlines driven by the issue of health spending, there’s surprisingly little infrastructure to guide efforts aimed at addressing it. NPC’s newly-published Health Care Spending Guiding Principles establish how to assess healthcare spending estimates and design policies to ensure alignment with the goals of patient-centered care. Read both parts of the Patient-Centered Principles, including those for evaluating health spending and for reforming healthcare to address rising healthcare spending. Download the infographic for an easy reference.
Employers Identify Good Practices for High-Deductible Health Plans
High-deductible health plans (HDHPs) aim to lower health care spending by ensuring enrollees are sensitive to costs, but these plans can also make it harder for people to access the care they need. New research from NPC and Gallagher Research & Insights (GRI) reveals good practices identified by employers for designing HDHPs, which could help the nearly one-third of covered U.S. workers navigate treatment options and get the most value from their benefits. While employers signaled strong support for these good practices — including providing health savings account (HSA) contributions, front-loading these contributions, and covering preventive care pre-deductible — they also reported gaps in use. NPC Chief Scientific Officer Sharon Phares, PhD, MPH, and Immediate Past Board Chair Mike Ryan, PharmD, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Value, Access, Pricing & Health Economics and Outcomes Research at Bristol Myers Squibb, explored the role of HDHPs and other factors in their analysis of why patients are paying more at the pharmacy counter in early 2022.
ICYMI
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Addressing the Needs of People Living with Autoimmune Disorders – NPC spoke with Molly Murray, president and CEO of the Autoimmune Association, to discuss how individual patient differences affect the treatment of autoimmune conditions and the obstacles her community faces in navigating the complex health care and insurance system.
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Understanding the Impact of Drug Price Controls – In a blog, NPC’s Dr. Phares explores the potential impact of proposed drug price controls in Medicare Part D on the more than 5 million beneficiaries who struggle to access their medicines.
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NPC’s 2022 Outlook – In his first post as Board chair, Steve Romano, MD, Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, discusses NPC’s role in leading health policy discussions in 2022.
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Women Leaders Are Making a Difference – NPC celebrated Women’s History Month by highlighting insights and perspectives from the women leaders on NPC’s Board of Directors.
Mark Your Calendar
AMCP 2022
March 30 – 31
Look for members of the NPC team at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy 2022 Annual Meeting in Chicago. NPC Vice President of Research Michael Ciarametaro, MBA, will join a panel discussion, “Gene Therapy Value-Based Purchasing and the Impact of Medicaid Best Price Changes.” Research Manager Brian Sils, MPP, will present a poster on patient access to medications and the role of factors like patient cost-sharing.
NCCN 2022 Annual Meeting
March 31
NPC’s research partner, the University of Rhode Island, will lead a poster presentation, "Medication Adherence and Subsequent Healthcare Resource Utilization Among Patients with Cancer Newly Initiating their Oral Anticancer Medication,” at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Annual Meeting.
AcademyHealth's 2022 Health Datapalooza and National Health Policy Conference
April 4 – 5
The agenda for this year’s conference will explore innovative solutions to confront the challenges, opportunities, and threats facing U.S. health care. On April 4, NPC President and CEO John M. O’Brien, PharmD, will participate in the Meet-the-Experts Student Breakfast to share insights from the health policy landscape and, later that day, will serve on the plenary session panel, “Investing in Innovation: Market Dynamics to Watch.” On April 5, Dr. O’Brien will facilitate a panel discussion on drug price regulation, joined by Mr. Ciarametaro and several other stakeholder representatives.
Asembia's Specialty Pharmacy Summit 2022
May 2-5
NPC’s Dr. O’Brien and Dr. Phares will participate in Asembia's Specialty Pharmacy Summit in Las Vegas. On May 3, Dr. O’Brien will discuss how employers can help drive quality, equity, and affordability in specialty pharmacy benefit management. During a May 4 session, Dr. Phares will join a discussion on payer perspectives regarding specialty drug benefit design.
PQA 2022 Annual Meeting
May 3-5
NPC’s Mr. Sils will present a poster, “Specialty drug use and healthcare utilization vary by wage level in employer-sponsored health plans” on May 4 at the Pharmacy Quality Alliance Annual Meeting in Baltimore, MD.
FT Live - Financial Times US Pharma and Biotech Summit 2022
May 11, | 9:00am - 5:00pm
NPC is proud to be a supporting partner for the 2022 Financial Times US Pharma and Biotech Summit in New York, where experts will examine the latest breakthroughs and trends in areas like drug discovery, market access, and innovation.
ISPOR 2022
May 15-18
Look for NPC’s Mr. Ciarametaro at the leading global conference for health economics and outcomes research during the May 17 session, “Could Gene Therapy Value-Based Purchasing Become Common Thanks to the New CMS Rule on Medicaid Best Price?”