Friday Links
FDA defends Orphan Drug Act. AI can detect breast cancer. Smartphone doctors’ appointments. Changes in health care spending, 1996-2013. Study using data from verbal autopsies. Next day Rx. “End the Shenanigans”
Month: November 2017
Is there peer-reviewer bias against research from low-income countries?
According to a paper from Harris et al. (2017), the country from which a study takes place greatly influences the academic community’s perception of that study. The authors used a unique study design approach: In our randomized, controlled, and blinded crossover experiment, participants rated the same abstracts on two separate occasions, one month apart, with the…
Are PBM exclusion lists value-based?
Value-based insurance design (VBID) is a simple concept. In short, interventions that provide high-value should be covered with little cost sharing; treatments with low-value should be covered with higher rates of cost sharing or in some cases perhaps not even covered at all. A paper by Cohen et al. (2017) aims to see how far…
Quotation of the day: Schumpeter on value
Nobody values bread according to the quantity of it which is to be found in his country or in the world, but everybody measures the utility of it according to the amount that he has himself… Schumpeter (1908)
Advancing the Discussion on Real-World Evidence
With the FDA’s introduction of new guidelines surrounding the use of real-world evidence (RWE) in medical device regulatory decisions, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb advances the argument for the utility of RWE. In fact, the FDA is currently considering the role of RWE in evaluating pharmaceutical treatments. Despite much debate over what part RWE should play in…
Health Wonk Review: Quote-of-the-day Edition
It’s Health Wonk Review time! We have some great posts lined up for today’s quotation-themed version of the Health Wonk Review. We even have a few videos for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy! “It’s the economy, stupid” – Bill Clinton How do factors like job loss, wage stagnation and low productivity affect the economy at large…
IVI releases its Open-Source Value Project
The Innovation and Value Initiative (IVI)–where I serve as the Director of Research–today released its first Open-Source Value Project in rheumatoid arthritis. I have pasted the press release below. Go check it out! Press release: The Innovation and Value Initiative (IVI) – a collaboration of academics, patient advocacy organizations, payers, life sciences companies, providers, delivery systems, and other organizations dedicated to finding scientifically…
Why don’t we rely exclusively on CEA estimates to make drug coverage determinations?
Cost effectiveness analyses (CEA) typically analyses the value of a new treatment relative to its cost. If the value of the additional health benefits outweigh the additional cost, then they should be covered; if the additional cost outweighs the additional benefit, then it should not be covered, right? There are a few issues with this…
IVI Model highlights ACR Conference
As reported in a Academy of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy newsletter, titled “Mathematical Model Aims to Improve Cost-Effectiveness of Rheumatology Treatment“, the Innovation and Value Initiative’s is highlighted from the American College of Rheumatology conference. Here is an excerpt: Biological therapies for moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis have significantly improved treatment and prognosis. However,…
Links to start the week
FDA defends Orphan Drug Act. AI can detect breast cancer. Healthy life expectancy calculator. Fax of life. How formidable would Amazon be in pharmacy?