#TBT: Five Most Popular NPC Blog Posts of 2015

As part of our Throwback Thursday blog series, we’re taking a look at a topic that’s currently in the news and tagging it with previous research, videos or commentaries in a relevant way. As the saying goes, “what’s old is new again” – and we hope you enjoy our wonky twist on #TBT.

As we near the end of the year, we reflected on how often we’ve posted on our blog about the many issues under debate among health care stakeholders. Which blog posts resonated the most among our readers?

We decided to answer that question by putting together our list of the “top 5 most viewed blog posts of 2015” (which form this week’s Throwback Thursday post).

Posts tackled topics such as the value of biopharmaceuticals; new methods to manage patient care; a continuing education program on real-world evidence; companion diagnostic tests and precision medicine; and meaningful quality measures.

Counting down, let’s take a look:

5) Minding The Gaps In Quality Measurement: A Conversation With Discern Health’s Dr. Tom Valuck (February 24, 2015) In a series of video interviews, Discern Health Partner Dr. Tom Valuck outlines key findings from research, conducted in partnership with NPC, that sheds light on gaps in quality measurement and missed opportunities to promote improvement in patient care and health systems, and offers solutions for addressing those gaps, particularly for specialty care and innovative treatment. Dr. Valuck discusses overcoming barriers to the use of quality measures, using layered and modular approaches to measurement, and developing more strategic, targeted measures.

4) How Can We Assess The Value Of A Companion Diagnostic Test? (July 23, 2015) As precision medicine gains a foothold in treatments, will the companion diagnostic tools (CDT) that can pinpoint whether a treatment works best for a patient be a key part of those efforts? This post highlighted a peer-reviewed study, published in the Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy, that examines some of the barriers to incorporating a CDT into drug treatment decisions and outlines a framework to assist managed care organizations in determining how to evaluate CDTs.

3) CER Collaborative Continuing Education Program: Same Content. Same Instructors. Two Formats. Your Choice! (May 13, 2015) The Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) Collaborative announced a new option to participate in its 19-hour continuing education program, “CER in Decision-Making.” The program’s sixth and final module, “Demonstrating Skills in Assessing CER Studies and Synthesizing CER Literature,” now can be completed by attending an in-person meeting at an upcoming Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy event, or through a newer option, via a webinar/teleconference.

2) Clinical Care Pathways: Anthem’s Dr. Malin Explains Their Use and Keys to Success (August 19, 2015) Dr. Jennifer Malin, medical director, oncology and care management, Anthem, Inc., explains in a series of video interviews how her organization uses clinical care pathways and the keys to successfully implementing these programs. A clinical care pathway is a method for managing patient care based on clinical practice guidelines to improve quality, reduce variation and increase the efficient use of health care. They are most frequently used when there are opportunities for cost savings, particularly in specialty drug areas, high disease prevalence, availability of multiple branded therapies, or significant variation in treatment patterns.

1) At The HHS Pharmaceutical Forum, We Need to Consider All Health Care Costs (November 12, 2015) Ahead of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ “Pharmaceutical Forum: Innovation, Access, Affordability and Better Health,” NPC launched a blog series highlighting the value of biopharmaceuticals. In this post, NPC welcomed the discussion around drug costs, but pointed out that all health costs need to be on the table, too.

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