Links
Impact of VBP on in-hospital infection rates. NPC on HTA in the US Credibility revolution in economics and its impact on health policy. Philly to ban low level traffic stops. FDA: Standards for RWD. $50 trillion. The end of cervical cancer?
Month: November 2021
Nursing shortages
While the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the worst part of the pandemic is largely past us (see NYT graph) with more people getting vaccinated. One would expect that as vaccine uptake has risen and cases have fallen, interest in the nursing profession would rise and those who left the nursing profession due to COVID-19 may return.…
Do we need outcomes-based contracts for drugs?
In the provider space, alternative payment models are increasingly common. These models aim to pay more money when providers improve quality and lower total cost and pay providers less when quality is suboptimal or total cost rise. Because there is significant uncertainty in quality of care and variability across providers, value-based purchasing is sensible in…
ISPOR Europe Panels
Mark your calendars and be sure to register: I will be speaking on two panels at the upcoming ISPOR Europe 2021 virtual conference. These panels include: “Addressing Payment Challenges for Alzheimer’s Disease-Modifying Therapies” on December 1, 16:00-17:00 CET and “Challenges in Quantifying the Value of Digital Therapeutics” on December 2, 11:00-12:00 CET. Further event details…
Who cashed in from rising insulin drug prices?
Perhaps surprisingly, the answer is PBMs, not drug manufacturers. That is one of the conclusions discussed in a recent commentary by Good and Hernandez (2021). They try to get to the bottom of this question, writing: Most explanations for increasing drug costs start with drug companies, and indeed they are an easy target. Manufacturers in…
Friday Links
Managing people: the emotional bank account. “Pace and power” Impact of eviction policies. Share of hospitals impacted by readmissions reduction program. LA Librarian retires.
AHRQ’s research agenda for tackling patients with multiple chronic conditions
Bierman et al. (2021) defines multiple chronic conditions (MCC) are as “the co-occurrence of two or more chronic physical or mental health conditions”. Why do policymakers, payers and clinicians care so much about patients with MCC? One in three American adults, four in five Medicare beneficiaries, and a growing number of children have MCC. People…
On behavioral change, health and age
A Health Affairs article (Meyer 2021) discusses the potential benefits of Medicare Diabetes Prevention Programs (MDPP). MDPP aims to reduce patient weight and prevent patients from becoming diabetic. Commenting on her Medicare clientele enrolled in the program, one instructor noted: “I’ve seen a lot of Medicare people do really well with the program because they…
How much money should governments spend to incentivize the development of new antibiotics?
As the number of infections that are anti-biotic resistant grows, we need to have more novel antibiotics in our arsenal. The problem is that many antibiotics are not commercially viable. For instance, if a new antibiotic is marginally better than the existing one, few payers will be willing to cover this cost. However, if new…