In This Week’s Issue:
1. PIPC Comments on MedPAC Consideration of Bundled Payments, click here to view the statement.
2. Wall Street Journal: The Search for a Better Definition of Pain, click here to view the article.
3. Washington Post: Personalized cancer vaccines have already helped treat three patients, click here to view the article.
4. Column: The Health Care Paradigm Shift: Moving From Volume to Value, click here to view the column.
5. Column: The SGR Fix Helps the Value-Based Care Evolution, click here to view the article (subscription required).
6. Blog: Patient Quality: Minding the P's and Q's of Healthcare, click here to view the blog.
7. Column: Comparative Effectiveness Research: Through the Lens of Medical Innovation, click here to view the article.
8. PCORI Selects 27 Individuals, Small Groups to Move to Second Tier of "Pipeline to Proposal" Awards, click hereto view the press release.
9. PCORI Broadens Data-Driven Research Funding, click here to view the article.
1. PIPC Comments on MedPAC Consideration of Bundled Payments, click here to view the statement.
2. Wall Street Journal: The Search for a Better Definition of Pain, click here to view the article.
3. Washington Post: Personalized cancer vaccines have already helped treat three patients, click here to view the article.
4. Column: The Health Care Paradigm Shift: Moving From Volume to Value, click here to view the column.
5. Column: The SGR Fix Helps the Value-Based Care Evolution, click here to view the article (subscription required).
6. Blog: Patient Quality: Minding the P's and Q's of Healthcare, click here to view the blog.
7. Column: Comparative Effectiveness Research: Through the Lens of Medical Innovation, click here to view the article.
8. PCORI Selects 27 Individuals, Small Groups to Move to Second Tier of "Pipeline to Proposal" Awards, click hereto view the press release.
9. PCORI Broadens Data-Driven Research Funding, click here to view the article.
1. PIPC Comments on MedPAC Consideration of Bundled Payments
Last Friday, PIPC Chairman Tony Coelho released the following statement regarding the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s (MedPAC) consideration of bundled payments: "On behalf of millions of patients represented by our membership, PIPC urges MedPAC to expand the role of shared decision-making in Medicare, not reduce it. After hearing today’s discussion related to bundling, however, we can’t help but harbor concerns that MedPAC is instead pursuing policies to reduce the role of patients by centralizing judgments about the comparative clinical value of treatments in a manner that puts a government agency between the doctor and the patient in determining an appropriate treatment regimen.”
"As comparative clinical effectiveness research becomes more readily available—particularly through the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)—it should be used to empower patients to engage in their own health care decisions. But encouraging strict adherence to clinical guidelines that often fail to account for differences in individual patients and their preferences would significantly undermine the doctor-patient relationship." Click here to view the statement.
2. Wall Street Journal: The Search for a Better Definition of Pain
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal examines how researchers are working with patients to better catalog the level of pain that they are feeling. “Since her diagnosis for multiple sclerosis in 2009, Tamara Michel is regularly asked at medical appointments to rate her pain on a scale of 1 to 10. But one day, Mrs. Michel admitted to the nurse that she didn’t like the scale. She never knew exactly what a 10 meant… She started working with a team of researchers in 2014 to find a better frame of reference. Instead of asking people to assign numbers, Mrs. Michel’s Impact of Chronic Pain Scale asks patients how often pain prevents them from preparing a typical meal, folding laundry or loading the dishwasher, among other things.”
“…Clifton O. Bingham, who treats patients with rheumatoid arthritis and is director of the Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center in Baltimore, is being funded by [PCORI]. His team works with rheumatoid arthritis patients to home in on the best way to evaluate pain, stiffness and other symptoms of the condition. Patients are also working with researchers to capture aspects of their condition that aren't always of interest if they have advanced disease, where there is little impetus to develop drugs.” Click here to view the article.
3. Washington Post: Personalized cancer vaccines have already helped treat three patients
The Washington Post reported last week, "One day, cancer treatment regimens might include vaccines specially tailored to each patient. In a small preliminary study published Thursday in Science, researchers report successful use of these vaccines in three patients.” Click here to view the article.
4. Column: The Health Care Paradigm Shift: Moving From Volume to Value
In a column published last week in The Morning Consult, Dan Leonard of the National Pharmaceutical Council comments, “While the biopharmaceutical and insurance sectors have begun to collaborate to conduct real-world studies designed to determine how to most effectively and economically treat disease, the way that insurers and employers will use this information to make coverage decisions is still being debated. Therefore, as we explore and expand these new opportunities for collaboration, we must be vigilant and work to ensure that we are using quality data, that the research is of the highest caliber using agreed upon standards, and that the evaluation of the evidence is done in a balanced manner. After all, it is the patient who has the most at stake.” Click here to view the column.
5. Column: The SGR Fix Helps the Value-Based Care Evolution
According to an article in Modern Healthcare, “Medicare Advantage plans are the perfect laboratories for extending and experimenting with value-based insurance design and value-based physician reimbursement. As Congress holds future Advantage payments in check—the likely scenario—many more plans will seek to transfer risk to their contracted physicians and other providers.” Click here to view the article (subscription required).
6. Blog: Patient Quality: Minding the P's and Q's of Healthcare
Dr. Ken Thorpe, Chairman of the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD), writes in a blog published in The Hill that “putting the patient at the center of this equation was the goal policy-makers had in mind when they created a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute and called for patient-focused drug development. However, this change has not yet made its way into health care payment and delivery… Integrating these patient-reported outcomes into health care policy and practice is not simple. It means creating reporting systems that will enable doctors, nurses and other health care professionals to collect patient perspectives in a systemic way. It means creating feedback mechanisms for providers to respond to patient-reported outcomes through the way they provide treatment and care so that patients are supported to achieve optimal outcomes. It also means creating structures that will enable health care payers – both government and private insurers – to include the patient experience in the formulas used for determining physician and hospital reimbursements.” Click here to view the blog.
7. Column: Comparative Effectiveness Research: Through the Lens of Medical Innovation
In an article in Disruptive Women in Health Care, Randel Richner comments, “The era of ‘trust me’ science is over. We must more directly rely on the good science and studies generated by the FDA—the pre-IDE process—the very important and time-tested process – and acknowledged as valuable by all parties. Use new study approaches developed at the FDA to inform decision making and increase the rigor and scalability of these methods and apply to ‘comparative effectiveness’ research… A fair, open, cooperative public/private process, if designed properly will enhance the information needs of patients, physicians, and scientists and eliminate wasteful and ineffective medical technologies and procedures. Implemented without a fix of the payment system, however, the fear that this may stifle access and innovation will be realized.” Click here to view the article.
8. PCORI Selects 27 Individuals, Small Groups to Move to Second Tier of "Pipeline to Proposal" Awards
According to a recent press release, “The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) has approved 27 projects that were awarded Tier I support through its 'Pipeline to Proposal' Awards program to move forward into the program's second phase. The projects will receive Tier II awards totaling $674,328 to continue work they began through initial funding they received in December 2013. Pipeline to Proposal Awards enable individuals and groups that are not typically involved in clinical research to develop the means to produce community-led funding proposals focused on patient-centered comparative effectiveness research (CER).” Click here to view the press release.
9. PCORI Broadens Data-Driven Research Funding
As detailed in a report in Government Health IT, “the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), announced it plans to produce a demonstration project, costing $5 million, that will support its national clinical research data network (PCORnet) to help health systems develop data-driven, clinical research programs… First, PCORI will commit $1 million during one year to enable PCORnet sites to work with health system leaders to identify and prioritize a set of data-driven research activities. In the second step, it will allocate about $4 million to fund up to five one-year research studies on those priority topics. PCORI plans to present proposals for the first step to its board for approval in September. The project leaders hope to encourage review and discussion between researchers and health system leaders, the PCORI report said.” Click here to view the article.
Last Friday, PIPC Chairman Tony Coelho released the following statement regarding the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s (MedPAC) consideration of bundled payments: "On behalf of millions of patients represented by our membership, PIPC urges MedPAC to expand the role of shared decision-making in Medicare, not reduce it. After hearing today’s discussion related to bundling, however, we can’t help but harbor concerns that MedPAC is instead pursuing policies to reduce the role of patients by centralizing judgments about the comparative clinical value of treatments in a manner that puts a government agency between the doctor and the patient in determining an appropriate treatment regimen.”
"As comparative clinical effectiveness research becomes more readily available—particularly through the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)—it should be used to empower patients to engage in their own health care decisions. But encouraging strict adherence to clinical guidelines that often fail to account for differences in individual patients and their preferences would significantly undermine the doctor-patient relationship." Click here to view the statement.
2. Wall Street Journal: The Search for a Better Definition of Pain
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal examines how researchers are working with patients to better catalog the level of pain that they are feeling. “Since her diagnosis for multiple sclerosis in 2009, Tamara Michel is regularly asked at medical appointments to rate her pain on a scale of 1 to 10. But one day, Mrs. Michel admitted to the nurse that she didn’t like the scale. She never knew exactly what a 10 meant… She started working with a team of researchers in 2014 to find a better frame of reference. Instead of asking people to assign numbers, Mrs. Michel’s Impact of Chronic Pain Scale asks patients how often pain prevents them from preparing a typical meal, folding laundry or loading the dishwasher, among other things.”
“…Clifton O. Bingham, who treats patients with rheumatoid arthritis and is director of the Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center in Baltimore, is being funded by [PCORI]. His team works with rheumatoid arthritis patients to home in on the best way to evaluate pain, stiffness and other symptoms of the condition. Patients are also working with researchers to capture aspects of their condition that aren't always of interest if they have advanced disease, where there is little impetus to develop drugs.” Click here to view the article.
3. Washington Post: Personalized cancer vaccines have already helped treat three patients
The Washington Post reported last week, "One day, cancer treatment regimens might include vaccines specially tailored to each patient. In a small preliminary study published Thursday in Science, researchers report successful use of these vaccines in three patients.” Click here to view the article.
4. Column: The Health Care Paradigm Shift: Moving From Volume to Value
In a column published last week in The Morning Consult, Dan Leonard of the National Pharmaceutical Council comments, “While the biopharmaceutical and insurance sectors have begun to collaborate to conduct real-world studies designed to determine how to most effectively and economically treat disease, the way that insurers and employers will use this information to make coverage decisions is still being debated. Therefore, as we explore and expand these new opportunities for collaboration, we must be vigilant and work to ensure that we are using quality data, that the research is of the highest caliber using agreed upon standards, and that the evaluation of the evidence is done in a balanced manner. After all, it is the patient who has the most at stake.” Click here to view the column.
5. Column: The SGR Fix Helps the Value-Based Care Evolution
According to an article in Modern Healthcare, “Medicare Advantage plans are the perfect laboratories for extending and experimenting with value-based insurance design and value-based physician reimbursement. As Congress holds future Advantage payments in check—the likely scenario—many more plans will seek to transfer risk to their contracted physicians and other providers.” Click here to view the article (subscription required).
6. Blog: Patient Quality: Minding the P's and Q's of Healthcare
Dr. Ken Thorpe, Chairman of the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD), writes in a blog published in The Hill that “putting the patient at the center of this equation was the goal policy-makers had in mind when they created a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute and called for patient-focused drug development. However, this change has not yet made its way into health care payment and delivery… Integrating these patient-reported outcomes into health care policy and practice is not simple. It means creating reporting systems that will enable doctors, nurses and other health care professionals to collect patient perspectives in a systemic way. It means creating feedback mechanisms for providers to respond to patient-reported outcomes through the way they provide treatment and care so that patients are supported to achieve optimal outcomes. It also means creating structures that will enable health care payers – both government and private insurers – to include the patient experience in the formulas used for determining physician and hospital reimbursements.” Click here to view the blog.
7. Column: Comparative Effectiveness Research: Through the Lens of Medical Innovation
In an article in Disruptive Women in Health Care, Randel Richner comments, “The era of ‘trust me’ science is over. We must more directly rely on the good science and studies generated by the FDA—the pre-IDE process—the very important and time-tested process – and acknowledged as valuable by all parties. Use new study approaches developed at the FDA to inform decision making and increase the rigor and scalability of these methods and apply to ‘comparative effectiveness’ research… A fair, open, cooperative public/private process, if designed properly will enhance the information needs of patients, physicians, and scientists and eliminate wasteful and ineffective medical technologies and procedures. Implemented without a fix of the payment system, however, the fear that this may stifle access and innovation will be realized.” Click here to view the article.
8. PCORI Selects 27 Individuals, Small Groups to Move to Second Tier of "Pipeline to Proposal" Awards
According to a recent press release, “The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) has approved 27 projects that were awarded Tier I support through its 'Pipeline to Proposal' Awards program to move forward into the program's second phase. The projects will receive Tier II awards totaling $674,328 to continue work they began through initial funding they received in December 2013. Pipeline to Proposal Awards enable individuals and groups that are not typically involved in clinical research to develop the means to produce community-led funding proposals focused on patient-centered comparative effectiveness research (CER).” Click here to view the press release.
9. PCORI Broadens Data-Driven Research Funding
As detailed in a report in Government Health IT, “the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), announced it plans to produce a demonstration project, costing $5 million, that will support its national clinical research data network (PCORnet) to help health systems develop data-driven, clinical research programs… First, PCORI will commit $1 million during one year to enable PCORnet sites to work with health system leaders to identify and prioritize a set of data-driven research activities. In the second step, it will allocate about $4 million to fund up to five one-year research studies on those priority topics. PCORI plans to present proposals for the first step to its board for approval in September. The project leaders hope to encourage review and discussion between researchers and health system leaders, the PCORI report said.” Click here to view the article.
