Interviews

Investigational microbiota-based live therapeutic RBX2660 was found to be safe and effective at reducing Clostridioides difficile (C difficile) recurrence, said Paul Feuerstadt, MD, assistant clinical professor at Yale University School of Medicine, gastroenterologist at PACT Gastroenterology Center, at Digestive Disease Week 2022.

Outcomes were worse for patients hospitalized once for Clostridioides difficile infection compared with alternative reasons for hospitalization, but the risk of adverse outcomes did not seem to increase with recurrent admissions for C difficile, explained Preethi Venkat, MD, second-year internal medicine resident at University of California, San Diego, at Digestive Disease Week 2022.

Roxana Siles, MD, FAAAAI, staff in the Department of Allergy and Immunology at Cleveland Clinic and codirector of the Asthma Center at Cleveland Clinic, discusses the important need for chronic cough therapies and what issues with current treatments should be addressed by next-generation medications.

Because symptoms are similar to those of gastroesophageal reflux disease, achalasia is often misdiagnosed, explained Eric Low, MD, MPH, gastroenterology fellow at University of California, San Diego at Digestive Disease Week 2022.

The accumulation of screening and treatment disparities are contributing to colorectal cancer incidence and mortality disparities, said Folasade (Fola) May, MD, PhD, gastroenterologist, health services researcher at University of California, Los Angeles, at Digestive Disease Week 2022.

The value of multicancer early detection tests is based not only on cost, but cost in relation to the outcomes, said Patricia Deverka, MD, MS, senior researcher, deputy director at the Center for Translational and Policy Research and Precision Medicine, University of California San Francisco.

On this episode of Managed Care Cast, Tham Thi Le, PhD, MPH, lead author—then at the University of Maryland at Baltimore, now at AstraZeneca—and Linda Wastila, PhD, MSPH, senior author and the Parke-Davis Chair in Geriatric Pharmacotherapy, Pharmaceutical Health Services Research, at the University of Maryland at Baltimore, discuss the findings of their investigation into opioid use by patients with a new cancer diagnosis and the opioid prescribing practices of their health care providers from 2007 to 2013.

Elaine Siegfried, MD, professor of pediatrics and dermatology, Saint Louis University Health Sciences Center, explains the impact of socioeconomic status on the management of atopic dermatitis in the clinical setting.

Marc-Andre Cornier, MD, professor and director of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases at the Medical University of South Carolina, explains trends he expects to see in upcoming diabetes and weight loss studies.

Latha Alaparthi, MD, gastroenterologist at Gastroenterology Center of Connecticut, talks about lessons she has learned from being a woman in a medical leadership position and what she hopes to teach others at the Women in GI Luncheon at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2022.

Soumya Vishwanath, PharmD, senior manager of formulary management at Magellan Rx Management, explained what she wishes more people understood about digital therapeutics for behavioral health disorders.

Sharon Phares, PhD, MPH, chief scientific officer of the National Pharmaceutical Council, explained the importance of taking multiple factors into consideration when making health care decisions.

Miruna Sasu, PhD, MBA, president and CEO of COTA Healthcare, discusses the medicines discovery process and how real-world data can be used to evaluate patient and tumor response to treatment regimens.

Anna Brewster, services and volunteer manager at The Food Chain, a London-based charity that provides short-term assistance to persons living with HIV (PLWH), discusses how education provided through the Eating Positively program connects the importance of food and proper nutrition to health outcomes.

While 2023 is a big year with at least 7 adalimumab biosimilars expected to come to market, 2024 will be even more important because all the products will be on the market and formulary decisions can be made, said Sonia T. Oskouei, PharmD, BCMAS, DPLA, vice president of biosimilars at Cardinal Health.

Miruna Sasu, PhD, MBA, president and CEO of COTA Healthcare, delves into how real-world data and evidence generation have changed, both within the past year and since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marking Women's Health Month, Sharon Phares, PhD, MPH, chief scientific officer of the National Pharmaceutical Council, detailed how value assessments can address health care imbalances for women.

The US Preventive Services Task Force has never evaluated a multicancer screening test for endorsement, which may make the process even longer, said Patricia Deverka, MD, MS, senior researcher, deputy director at the Center for Translational and Policy Research and Precision Medicine, University of California San Francisco.

Colette Romero, whose child has eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), describes some of the coping strategies her family uses to encourage her son to keep healthy.

Gene therapies in the pipeline to treat hemophilia will be very expensive, but they also seem to be very efficacious, and multiple could hit the market between now and 2024, said Ray Tancredi, RPh, MBA, CSP, divisional vice president, specialty pharmacy development and brand Rx/vaccine purchasing, Walgreens.

While CMS has started making changes to address health equity through policy and payment models, commercial plans are waiting to see the outcomes before they follow suit, said Jayson Slotnik, partner, Health Policy Strategies, Inc.

Robert Sidbury, MD, MPH, chief, division of dermatology, Seattle Children's Hospital, discussed the emergence of effective therapies for the management of atopic dermatitis and how dermatologists and other providers involved in patient care can better promote earlier use of these treatments.

Marc-Andre Cornier, MD, professor and director of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases at the Medical University of South Carolina, discusses the importance of a combined approach to weight loss.

After the Oncology Care Model (OCM) expires at the end of June, Tennessee Oncology will take what it learned from the model and apply it to commercial value-based care arrangements and potentially the next Medicare model, said Leah Owens, DNP, RN, executive director of care transformation at Tennessee Oncology.

Debra Patt, MD, PhD, MBA, executive vice president of Texas Oncology, discusses how community oncology practices have heightened their outreach efforts to entice patients back in for cancer screenings and the importance of thinking outside the box to overcome staffing shortages in the oncology space.

The impact that the adalimumab biosimilars will have in 2023 is going to depend on when they all get to market, said Doug Long, MBA, vice president, industry relations, IQVIA.

Anna Marzec-Bogusławska, MD, MPH, managing director, National AIDS Center, Warsaw, Poland, discusses how stigma and discrimination permeated the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic the country in the early 1980s and ways that advocates stepped up to overcome peoples’ fears.

Good telehealth is not about the technology, but rather the quality of service from the licensed professional, said Geoffrey Boyce, CEO of Array Behavioral Care.

Elaine Siegfried, MD, professor of pediatrics and dermatology, Saint Louis University Health Sciences Center, speaks on safety considerations for the use of Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors in pediatric patients with atopic dermatitis.

Roxana Siles, MD, FAAAAI, staff in the Department of Allergy and Immunology at Cleveland Clinic and codirector of the Asthma Center at Cleveland Clinic, addresses the placebo effect seen in clinical trials of chronic cough treatment.