NPC in Morning Consult: Does High Return Call for Greater Investment?
In his latest commentary for Morning Consult, NPC Chief Science Officer Robert W. Dubois explores new research that sheds light on which types of medical care have provided the greatest overall contribution to improvements in patient outcomes during the past several decades -- and raises the possibility that we might actually be under-investing in pharmaceuticals as the most valuable facet of health technology.
Over the past decades, advances in medical technology, from medications to devices, have had a profound impact on how patients receive care and manage disease. Although important individual innovations in surgery, diagnostic testing, devices, and drugs have all visibly increased the quality of life and outcomes for patients, which of these types of medical care has provided the greatest overall contribution to improvements in patient outcomes during the past several decades?
National Pharmaceutical Council Chief Science Officer and Executive Vice President Robert W. Dubois, MD, PhD, explores that question in his latest column in Morning Consult. According to research published in the Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy, pharmaceuticals, which have made up roughly 10-15 percent of our overall health dollar for decades, have driven the majority of medical innovation and improved outcomes for patients when looking at the system overall – raising the possibility that we are actually under-investing in them as the most valuable facet of health technology.