1. Four Newspapers Publish Letter from Over 60 Leading Groups Calling for Voices of Patients and People at Center of Health Debate, click here to view the letter.
2. PIPC Submits Letter to CMS on Achieving Patient-Centeredness in Cardiac and Joint Replacement Models, click here to read the letter.
3. PIPC Launches New Website!, click here to view the site.
4. BioCentury: Patients Want Bigger Role in ICER Assessments, click here to view the article.
5. Dr. Don Dizon: Evidence Should Not Be Used to Enforce Mandates, click here to view the article.
6. Tom Brokaw: Learning to Live With Cancer, click here to view the article.
7. PCORI Blog: Helping Survivors of Breast Cancer Watch Out for Recurrences, click here to view the blog post
8. Video: Impacting the Outcomes of Healthcare Research, click here to view the video.
9. Medical Journal Articles, see details below.
10. Upcoming Events and Webinars, see details below.
11. AHRQ Effective Program Updates, see details below.
On Friday, PIPC joined over 60 groups representing patients and people served by health systems in signing onto an Open Letter that was published in several leading newspapers across the country, including the St. Louis Dispatch, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Detroit Free Press, and the Miami Herald. The letter called on the Presidential candidates and the Presidential debate moderators to give voice to patients and people served by health systems and to give them a voice in health care. Furthermore, it calls for the creation of a health care system that rewards the outcomes that matter to patients, and emphasizes that when it comes to dictating patients’ treatment options, no patient is "average."
As the letter states, “We want to know, how will you as candidates make sure we are at the center of health care? What are your plans for empowering consumers, patients and providers? What decisions should be made by the government vs. individuals?” the letter states. “We reject the notion that we should be bundled into one-size-fits-all care models, or valued against one-size-fits-all judgments of cost-effectiveness. Don’t tell us what we’re worth – ask us what we value.” Click here to view the open letter.
2. PIPC Submits Letter to CMS on Achieving Patient-Centeredness in Cardiac and Joint Replacement Models
PIPC Chairman Tony Coelho sent a letter to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt providing input on how to achieve patient-centeredness in alternative payment models (APMs) based on feedback PIPC received related to proposed models, including the Medicare Program; Advancing Care Coordination Through Episode Payment Models (EPMs); Cardiac Rehabilitation Incentive Payment Model; and Changes to the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Model (CJR). In the letter, Chairman Coelho provides a number of suggestions for bringing the voices of patients, people with disabilities, and their families to the discussion of how to advance patient-centered principles throughout an evolving healthcare system.
Chairman Coelho states, "We believe that solutions that center on patients and people with disabilities are the best approach to improving overall health care efficiency and quality. CMS should engage patients, people with disabilities and their families, providers and other stakeholders early and often in the creation of a health system that puts patients and people with disabilities at the center. With early engagement, we can shift away from policies that reinforce the old paternalistic system of health care and work against personalized medicine and the Precision Medicine Initiative, and instead focus on delivery reforms that activate and engage patients and people with disabilities and support shared decision-making between patients, people with disabilities and their providers. We look forward to an engagement process to develop care models for cardiac rehabilitation and joint replacement that reflect the input of patients, people with disabilities and their providers. In doing so, CMMI will be building the foundation for a patient-centered health system" Click here to read the letter.
3. PIPC Launches New Website!
Last week, PIPC launched a new website that highlights the Partnership’s work to give patients a seat at the table in the evolving healthcare landscape. The redesigned and revamped website aptly highlights PIPC's work to amplify the voices of patients and people with disabilities in three key areas in the discussion of value-based care: (1) implementing value-based payment, (2) developing and using tools to inform decisions on care value, and (3) supporting research on comparative value.
Among the key resources available on the new PIPC website (www.pipcpatients.org):
- An updated ‘Issues’ page which highlight’s PIPC’s previous work in the three key areas of focus;
- A new ‘Where We Stand’ page, which summarizes PIPC’s positive, forward-thinking agenda for how to include the voices of patients and people with disabilities at the center of the evolving healthcare landscape;
- An action-oriented call-to-action – the Patient Voices, Patient Value Initiative – which calls on patients and people with disabilities to engage with policymakers in the development of “value” policies;
- A revamped ‘Resources’ page – a sortable compendium including all of PIPC’s roundtable outputs, white papers, letters and comments, and polling data;
- The PIPC Blog, which includes everything from our ‘PIPC Patients Blog’ posts, the ‘Chairman’s Corner,’ recent news items, recent press releases, and all of our previous ‘PIPC Weekly Updates.’
4. BioCentury: Patients Want Bigger Role in ICER Assessments
A recent article in BioCentury examines recommendations from patient groups and medical product manufacturers in response to the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review’s (ICER) solicitation of public comments on its value assessment framework, which ask the agency to implement major changes in the way it assesses the value of drugs and devices. All 17 patient advocacy groups and most of the 20 commenters representing manufacturers' views challenged ICER to integrate patient perspectives into its operations more comprehensively, and to incorporate the views of a diverse range of patients in evaluations of products' benefits. Biopharmaceutical companies and some patient groups argued that ICER's methodology was skewed against innovative technologies, and that it favors products that target small populations. Some industry commenters called for ICER to scrap or overhaul its assessment of the budget impacts of drug and devices. Click here to view the article.
5. Medpage Today: Evidence Should Not Be Used to Enforce Mandates
Dr. Don Dizon comments in Medpage Today’s Kevin.MD.com on the dangers of relying too heavily on evidence-based medicine. Dr. Dizon writes, “Evidence has its place, but it’s not gospel. In the end, the data need to be interpreted by our patients, in the context of their own preferences and values, and each person will reach a different conclusion. In the end, evidence should inform our guidance, but it should not be used to enforce mandates.” Click here to view the article.
6. Tom Brokaw: Learning to Live With Cancer
In a recent The New York Times article, television journalist and author Tom Brokaw shares his experiences being diagnosed and living with multiple myeloma. “Even in remission, cancer alters a patient’s perception of what’s normal,” he writes. “Morning, noon and night, asleep and awake, malignant cells are determined to alter or end your life. Combating cancer is a full-time job that, in my case, requires 24 pills a day.” Click here to view the article.
7. PCORI Blog: Helping Survivors of Breast Cancer Watch Out for Recurrences
In a new post on The PCORI Blog, a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) funded researcher and two patient co-investigators describe the need for answers about surveillance for breast cancer survivors. Specifically, they wonder whether magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) adds value to mammography in detecting recurring breast cancer. “More than 3 million American women have a history of breast cancer, and the great majority survive for at least five years after diagnosis,” the blog post says. “After they finish treatment, women undergo regular checkups, which usually means getting mammograms. Some doctors are now adding MRI scans for patients who have a higher risk of recurrence, but there’s little evidence about whether MRIs add value.” Click here to view the blog post.
8. Video: Impacting the Outcomes of Healthcare Research
In a new video by PCORI, Alfiee M. Breland-Noble, PhD, MHSc, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University Medical Center, and Jalene Chase-Sands, MDiv, DMin, Founder of Balance and Life Ministries and Lead Pastor at Community United Methodist Church discuss the impact that healthcare research outcomes will have on their professions. The speakers note The Pipeline to Proposal Awards program in particular, as they say it allows multiple stakeholders to contribute their ideas and perspectives to improve healthcare outcomes for patients and families. Click here to view the video.
10. Medical Journal Articles
Direct Comparison of Dabigatran, Rivaroxaban, and Apixaban for Effectiveness and Safety in Non-Valvular Atrial Fibrillation, click here to view.
How to Understand and Conduct Evidence-Based Medicine, click here to view.
ACOs Holding Commercial Contracts Are Larger And More Efficient Than Noncommercial ACOs, click here to view.
Comparative Effectiveness and Cost-Effectiveness of Treat-to-Target Versus Benefit-Based Tailored Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes in Low-Income and Middle-Income Countries: A Modelling Analysis, click here to view.
Comparing Non–Vitamin K Oral Anticoagulants: Where We Are Now, click here to view.
Emergence of "Drivers" for the Implementation of Health Technology Assessment, click here to view.
Quality of Health Technology Assessment Reports Prepared for the Medical Services Advisory Committee, click here to view.
Viewpoint: Will Precision Medicine Improve Population Health?, click here to view.
Effectiveness of Fluticasone Furoate–Vilanterol for COPD in Clinical Practice, click here to view.
Perspectives: Use of Network Meta-Analysis in Clinical Guidelines, click here to view.
11. Upcoming Events and Webinars
Cycle 3 2016 Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis Applicant Town Hall
October 11, 2016, 11:00AM - 12:30PM ET
Click here for details.
Cycle 3 21016 Clinical Strategies for Managing and Reducing Long-Term Opioid Use for Chronic Pain LOI Town Hall
October 11, 2016, 12:30 - 1:30PM ET
Click here for details.
Translational Products for Systematic Reviews: A PCORI Stakeholder Workshop
October 14, 2016, 9:00AM - 3:00PM ET
Click here for details.
NIDILRR 2018-2023 Long-Range Plan: Stakeholder Listening Session
October 14, 28, November 1, 8, 18, December 5, 2016
Click here for details.
PCORI: Advisory Panel on Addressing Disparities Fall 2016 Meeting
October 24, 2016, 9:00AM - 5:00PM ET
Click here for details.
ANCOR: Election 2016: Empowering the I/DD Community To Rock The Vote
October 25, 2016, 2:00PM - 3:00PM ET
Click here for details.
Measuring Our Impact on Science, Delivery of Care, and Patient Outcomes
October 27 - 28, 2016
Click here for details.
Cancer Support Community: Access to Care in Cancer 2016
November 30, 2016, 9:00AM – 12:00pm
Click here for details.
Recommendations of the Second Panel on Cost-Effectiveness in Health and Medicine
December 7, 2016, 9:00AM - 4:30PM
Click here for details.
12. AHRQ Effective Program Updates
Telehealth: Mapping the Evidence for Patient Outcomes From Systematic Reviews - Disposition of Comments, click here to view.
Data Linkage Strategies to Advance Youth Suicide Prevention - Final Report, click here to view.
Outcome Measures Framework: Literature Review Findings and Implications - Final Report, Click here to view.