A brief note from PWC's Health Research Institute assesses the impact on drug manufacturers from the health exchanges, suggesting that there maybe a benefit from more people having insurance, but the size of the benefit may depend on the nature and extent of the drug benefit.
http://www.pwc.com/us/en/health-industries/health-research-institute/assets/PwC-Pharma-FAQ-FINAL.pdfA doctor writing in JAMA suggests that there are six misleading words associated with evidence-based medicine--"there is no evidence to suggest"--and that these words can make people think that a particular treatment is or isn't efficacious or safe when there really just isn't research on the point.
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1785467Gilead's new Hep C drug costs $84,000 for a 12 week course of treatment and PBMs and payers are determined not to pay it. The latest in the battles over the frightening rise in specialty drug use and spending.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-27/at-84-000-gilead-hepatitis-c-drug-sets-off-payer-revolt.htmlThe socioeconomic makeup of a Part D plan's enrollees may affect it's scores on performance measures, which can have important downstream effects, according to research published in Health Affairs.
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With the proliferation of quality measures, a timely research piece in Health Affairs suggests that out of 13 common AHRQ indications, 7 account for 93% of the total benefits of compliance with the measures. The number of measures could be cut back on without affecting quality and lowering compliance costs and confusion.
http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/33/1/132.abstractA JAMA viewpoint discusses how to reconcile evidence-based medicine and patient preferences, with a focus on the importance of recognizing informed patient choices, even when they may conflict with the best research evidence represented by a guideline.
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1763247A Wall Street Journal article discusses the reaction to the Veteran's Administration decision to let nurse practitioners treat patients without physician supervision, which many doctors oppose, largely in a bid to protect their turf.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304856504579340603947983912?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304856504579340603947983912.htmlHaving continuous health insurance for a number of years before becoming a Medicare beneficiary is associated with lower Medicare spending according to a recent Government Accounting Office report, but only…
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TigerText, which does something related to using a mobile app to communicate between health providers, has raised $21 million in a Series B round.
http://medcitynews.com/2014/01/buoyed-byod-trend-tigertext-raises-21m-series-b-round/?utm_source=MedCity+News+Subscribers&utm_campaign=c242a18946-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c05cce483a-c242a18946-67648197MediSwipe, which provides software and equipment to the medical and recreational marijuana markets, has received a $1.1 million investment from a private equity fund. To be blunt, not a high amount, but enough to keep them from going to pot.
http://www.pehub.com/2014/01/mediswipe-to-receive-1-1-mln/About this Blog
The Healthy Skeptic is a website about the health care system, and is written by Kevin Roche, who has many years of experience working in the health industry. Mr. Roche is available to assist health care companies through consulting arrangements through Roche Consulting, LLC and may be reached at khroche@healthy-skeptic.com.