In This Week’s Issue:
1. PIPC Chairman Coehlo Publishes Health Affairs Blog, click here to view the blog.
2. PIPC Releases White Paper on ‘Building a Patient-Centered Health System’, click here to view the white paper.
3. Turning the Tide Against Cancer: Actionable Policy Options Aimed at Fostering Patient-Centered Research and Care, click here to view.
4. Inside Health Policy: Consumer Advocates Worry PCORI's Peer-Review Plan Could Delay Access To CER Findings, click here to view the article (subscription required).
5. Focus On Value Turns to Specialty Drugs, click here to view an AJMC article, and here to view a Pink Sheet article.
6. PCORI Blogs, click here to view the blogs.
7. IOM Seeking Nominees for Roundtable on Health Literacy, click here for more information.
1. PIPC Chairman Coehlo Publishes Health Affairs Blog, click here to view the blog.
2. PIPC Releases White Paper on ‘Building a Patient-Centered Health System’, click here to view the white paper.
3. Turning the Tide Against Cancer: Actionable Policy Options Aimed at Fostering Patient-Centered Research and Care, click here to view.
4. Inside Health Policy: Consumer Advocates Worry PCORI's Peer-Review Plan Could Delay Access To CER Findings, click here to view the article (subscription required).
5. Focus On Value Turns to Specialty Drugs, click here to view an AJMC article, and here to view a Pink Sheet article.
6. PCORI Blogs, click here to view the blogs.
7. IOM Seeking Nominees for Roundtable on Health Literacy, click here for more information.
1. PIPC Chairman Coehlo Publishes Health Affairs Blog
On Thursday, PIPC Chairman Tony Coelho penned an opinion in Health Affairs discussing the importance of patient-centeredness in value-based payment systems, and announcing the release of a new White Paper on alternative payment models (APMs). “The movement to place greater financial risk on providers in an effort to pay for value rather than volume will have the effect of fundamentally changing the way health care providers interact with patients,” Chairman Coelho writes. “But the question in value-based payment remains: value to whom? The answer should be, of course, value to the patient. And the answer will be, intrinsically, shaped by application of evidence. While I applaud efforts to improve and advance our health care system through payment and delivery reforms, I am also mindful that such value-based payment systems must be built upon the foundation of ‘patient-centeredness.’ Indeed, lawmakers and policy experts have long agreed that a ‘patient-centered health care system’ is the Holy Grail of bipartisan health care reform. Yet despite significant progress in advancing patient-centeredness in our health system, much more work remains to be done. Click here to view the op-ed.
2. PIPC Releases White Paper on ‘Building a Patient-Centered Health System’
On Thursday, PIPC released a new White Paper on patient-centeredness in alternative payment models (APMs). This White Paper represents an important step in PIPC’s discussion of the application of comparative effectiveness research, and should serve as an important tool for policymakers in considering the future of value-based payment models. “Since its founding, PIPC has been at the forefront of patient-centeredness in CER – both its generation at PCORI and translation into patient care. With a focus on the front end of clinical CER, PIPC’s members initially coalesced around the recognition that policymakers will find it difficult to develop a patient-centered payment and healthcare delivery system without an evidence base developed around patient-centered principles. As the concept of patient-centeredness becomes better defined in its application to research, PIPC looks forward to bringing the patient voice to the discussion of how to advance patient-centered principles in a value-based health care system, specifically in the development of new payment and delivery models.” Click here to view the white paper.
3. Turning the Tide Against Cancer: Actionable Policy Options Aimed at Fostering Patient-Centered Research and Care
Leaders from across the cancer community will gathered on October 9, 2014 in the nation’s capital to discuss how to meet the challenge of sustaining innovation in cancer research and care within a cost constrained environment. In a report titled A Pathway for Change: Supporting the Shift to Patient-Centered Cancer Research and Care and Addressing Value and Cost of Cancer Care, a working group of stakeholders came together to develop consensus around policy recommendations for improving cancer research and care, and addressing the value and cost of cancer care. PIPC Chairman Tony Coelho convened a panel at the October 9, 2014 conference to discuss patient-centeredness. The Hill also published an opinion from panel participant Dr. Amy Abernethy and Dr. Arif Kamal entitled Keeping the patient at the center of cancer innovation concluding that "Continued investment in scientific research, along with the emergence of robust health information technology in oncology, promises a more patient-centered treatment system.” Click here to view the Hill opinion, and click here to see the Turning the Tide policy recommendations.
4. Inside Health Policy: Consumer Advocates Worry PCORI's Peer-Review Plan Could Delay Access To CER Findings
Early last week, Inside Health Policy published the following: "Consumer advocates are concerned about the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute's plan for conducting peer reviews of publicly released research findings as mandated by the Affordable Care Act. Groups like Families USA and the National Consumers League say they are concerned that the draft review and publication process released by the institute last month is too lengthy and could delay patient and physician access to significant comparative effectiveness research (CER) findings.[…]PCORI released a draft proposal on Sept. 15 that would require researchers to register their products on a website, like ClinicalTrials.gov, and submit a final report to PCORI no later than three months after completing data analysis. Researchers would also need to have their final report peer-reviewed by PCORI before it is accepted by the institute and posted on PCORI's website." Click here to view the full article (subscription required).
5. Focus On Value Turns to Specialty Drugs, The Pink Sheet and AJMC
Mary K. Caffrey, writing for The American Journal of Managed Care, reported, “In JAMA, [Peter B. Bach, MD, MAPP] asks whether a new pricing system is in order, one that takes into account how much value a given drug is expected to bring to a patient.[…] ‘Moving toward paying for drugs at prices that better match the benefits they deliver will be challenging,’ Dr Bach writes. ‘What is the right price for any particular level of benefit? How should benefit be determined?’” Click here to view the full AJMC article.
Cathy Kelly of The Pink Sheet Daily also commented, “A recent analysis by researchers at the Tufts Medical Center concludes that although specialty drugs often cost more than traditional drugs, they also tend to provide greater benefits and so provide ‘reasonable value for the money,’ the study authors say.[…] Drugs chosen were the subject of at least one cost utility or comparative effectiveness study.” Click here to view the Pink Sheet article (subscription required).
6. PCORI Blogs
Our New Evidence-to-Action Networks: Helping Awardees Share Knowledge: PCORI's science program officer Ayodola Anise and science program associate Katie Lewis teamed up last week to write a post for The PCORI Blog. “[W]e are launching a series of what we're calling Evidence-to-Action Networks (E2ANs), which will promote information sharing among awardee teams working on related projects and also establish links between those teams and those who may find the results helpful in making health and healthcare decisions...We believe that we can lay the groundwork for effective dissemination even before there are any results if we involve in the research process from the get-go those we hope will be end-users of the findings.” Click here to view the full post.
PCORI's Role in My Advocacy Journey: Tracy Lenzini of Grand Traverse Health Advocates and the PCORI Merit Review Panel recently published a guest post on The PCORI Blog. “Evolving from a dutiful patient and an advocate for other patients to a partner in research and advocate for my own healthcare has been an educational and emotional journey. In this passage, PCORI has played an important role by enriching my knowledge of research, giving me an opportunity to shape clinical studies, and exemplifying how patients can find useful information to guide their own health care. By collaborating with patients, practitioners, researchers, and the public, PCORI is making changes of historical importance in clinical research priorities, funding, and conduct, all focused on patient-centeredness… Now when I consider research findings, I think about whether outcomes important to patients have been addressed.” Click here to view the blog post.
PCORI as Catalyst for a New Research Center: Last week, Dr. Debra Fiser of the University of Arkansas published a guest post on The PCORI Blog, “Because many of the PCORI projects are just out of the gate, it's too soon to see the long-term impact of institute. My guess is that—if communication and dissemination components work as envisioned—PCORI really will change the practice of medicine. I see this spilling over into everything, including other research, other funding agencies, and even patient care.” Click here to view the blog post.
7. IOM Seeking Nominees for Roundtable on Health Literacy
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) Roundtable on Health Literacy (Roundtable) is seeking nominations for five new members. The Roundtable on Health Literacy was established in 2005 to "build upon the work of the IOM consensus report, Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion" and brings "together leaders from academia, industry, government, foundations and associations, and representatives of patient and consumer interests who have an interest and role in improving health literacy." The Roundtable is seeking five new members with a range of expertise including "nursing, pediatrics, pharmacy, primary care, public or population health, research, and transformative technologies" to help execute the mission to "inform, inspire, and activate a wide variety of stakeholders to support, develop, implement, and share evidence-based health literacy practices and policies to improve the health and well-being of all people." Click here to view the Roundtable’s ongoing work and its upcoming workshop to be held on November 6.
On Thursday, PIPC Chairman Tony Coelho penned an opinion in Health Affairs discussing the importance of patient-centeredness in value-based payment systems, and announcing the release of a new White Paper on alternative payment models (APMs). “The movement to place greater financial risk on providers in an effort to pay for value rather than volume will have the effect of fundamentally changing the way health care providers interact with patients,” Chairman Coelho writes. “But the question in value-based payment remains: value to whom? The answer should be, of course, value to the patient. And the answer will be, intrinsically, shaped by application of evidence. While I applaud efforts to improve and advance our health care system through payment and delivery reforms, I am also mindful that such value-based payment systems must be built upon the foundation of ‘patient-centeredness.’ Indeed, lawmakers and policy experts have long agreed that a ‘patient-centered health care system’ is the Holy Grail of bipartisan health care reform. Yet despite significant progress in advancing patient-centeredness in our health system, much more work remains to be done. Click here to view the op-ed.
2. PIPC Releases White Paper on ‘Building a Patient-Centered Health System’
On Thursday, PIPC released a new White Paper on patient-centeredness in alternative payment models (APMs). This White Paper represents an important step in PIPC’s discussion of the application of comparative effectiveness research, and should serve as an important tool for policymakers in considering the future of value-based payment models. “Since its founding, PIPC has been at the forefront of patient-centeredness in CER – both its generation at PCORI and translation into patient care. With a focus on the front end of clinical CER, PIPC’s members initially coalesced around the recognition that policymakers will find it difficult to develop a patient-centered payment and healthcare delivery system without an evidence base developed around patient-centered principles. As the concept of patient-centeredness becomes better defined in its application to research, PIPC looks forward to bringing the patient voice to the discussion of how to advance patient-centered principles in a value-based health care system, specifically in the development of new payment and delivery models.” Click here to view the white paper.
3. Turning the Tide Against Cancer: Actionable Policy Options Aimed at Fostering Patient-Centered Research and Care
Leaders from across the cancer community will gathered on October 9, 2014 in the nation’s capital to discuss how to meet the challenge of sustaining innovation in cancer research and care within a cost constrained environment. In a report titled A Pathway for Change: Supporting the Shift to Patient-Centered Cancer Research and Care and Addressing Value and Cost of Cancer Care, a working group of stakeholders came together to develop consensus around policy recommendations for improving cancer research and care, and addressing the value and cost of cancer care. PIPC Chairman Tony Coelho convened a panel at the October 9, 2014 conference to discuss patient-centeredness. The Hill also published an opinion from panel participant Dr. Amy Abernethy and Dr. Arif Kamal entitled Keeping the patient at the center of cancer innovation concluding that "Continued investment in scientific research, along with the emergence of robust health information technology in oncology, promises a more patient-centered treatment system.” Click here to view the Hill opinion, and click here to see the Turning the Tide policy recommendations.
4. Inside Health Policy: Consumer Advocates Worry PCORI's Peer-Review Plan Could Delay Access To CER Findings
Early last week, Inside Health Policy published the following: "Consumer advocates are concerned about the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute's plan for conducting peer reviews of publicly released research findings as mandated by the Affordable Care Act. Groups like Families USA and the National Consumers League say they are concerned that the draft review and publication process released by the institute last month is too lengthy and could delay patient and physician access to significant comparative effectiveness research (CER) findings.[…]PCORI released a draft proposal on Sept. 15 that would require researchers to register their products on a website, like ClinicalTrials.gov, and submit a final report to PCORI no later than three months after completing data analysis. Researchers would also need to have their final report peer-reviewed by PCORI before it is accepted by the institute and posted on PCORI's website." Click here to view the full article (subscription required).
5. Focus On Value Turns to Specialty Drugs, The Pink Sheet and AJMC
Mary K. Caffrey, writing for The American Journal of Managed Care, reported, “In JAMA, [Peter B. Bach, MD, MAPP] asks whether a new pricing system is in order, one that takes into account how much value a given drug is expected to bring to a patient.[…] ‘Moving toward paying for drugs at prices that better match the benefits they deliver will be challenging,’ Dr Bach writes. ‘What is the right price for any particular level of benefit? How should benefit be determined?’” Click here to view the full AJMC article.
Cathy Kelly of The Pink Sheet Daily also commented, “A recent analysis by researchers at the Tufts Medical Center concludes that although specialty drugs often cost more than traditional drugs, they also tend to provide greater benefits and so provide ‘reasonable value for the money,’ the study authors say.[…] Drugs chosen were the subject of at least one cost utility or comparative effectiveness study.” Click here to view the Pink Sheet article (subscription required).
6. PCORI Blogs
Our New Evidence-to-Action Networks: Helping Awardees Share Knowledge: PCORI's science program officer Ayodola Anise and science program associate Katie Lewis teamed up last week to write a post for The PCORI Blog. “[W]e are launching a series of what we're calling Evidence-to-Action Networks (E2ANs), which will promote information sharing among awardee teams working on related projects and also establish links between those teams and those who may find the results helpful in making health and healthcare decisions...We believe that we can lay the groundwork for effective dissemination even before there are any results if we involve in the research process from the get-go those we hope will be end-users of the findings.” Click here to view the full post.
PCORI's Role in My Advocacy Journey: Tracy Lenzini of Grand Traverse Health Advocates and the PCORI Merit Review Panel recently published a guest post on The PCORI Blog. “Evolving from a dutiful patient and an advocate for other patients to a partner in research and advocate for my own healthcare has been an educational and emotional journey. In this passage, PCORI has played an important role by enriching my knowledge of research, giving me an opportunity to shape clinical studies, and exemplifying how patients can find useful information to guide their own health care. By collaborating with patients, practitioners, researchers, and the public, PCORI is making changes of historical importance in clinical research priorities, funding, and conduct, all focused on patient-centeredness… Now when I consider research findings, I think about whether outcomes important to patients have been addressed.” Click here to view the blog post.
PCORI as Catalyst for a New Research Center: Last week, Dr. Debra Fiser of the University of Arkansas published a guest post on The PCORI Blog, “Because many of the PCORI projects are just out of the gate, it's too soon to see the long-term impact of institute. My guess is that—if communication and dissemination components work as envisioned—PCORI really will change the practice of medicine. I see this spilling over into everything, including other research, other funding agencies, and even patient care.” Click here to view the blog post.
7. IOM Seeking Nominees for Roundtable on Health Literacy
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) Roundtable on Health Literacy (Roundtable) is seeking nominations for five new members. The Roundtable on Health Literacy was established in 2005 to "build upon the work of the IOM consensus report, Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion" and brings "together leaders from academia, industry, government, foundations and associations, and representatives of patient and consumer interests who have an interest and role in improving health literacy." The Roundtable is seeking five new members with a range of expertise including "nursing, pediatrics, pharmacy, primary care, public or population health, research, and transformative technologies" to help execute the mission to "inform, inspire, and activate a wide variety of stakeholders to support, develop, implement, and share evidence-based health literacy practices and policies to improve the health and well-being of all people." Click here to view the Roundtable’s ongoing work and its upcoming workshop to be held on November 6.
