Latest Conference Articles

Future quality conversations must recognize what the pandemic has illustrated over the past 2 years—that patients who were in the most dire need of health care, including those with multiple chronic conditions, had the least amount of access, said Jonathan Blum, MPP, the principal deputy administrator and chief operating officer of CMS.

Addressing rural care is a way of addressing health inequities, and the Biden administration’s recent investment in rural care reflects its commitment to addressing health equity, said Ryan Urgo, MPAP, managing director, health policy, Avalere.

At the Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA) 2022 Annual Meeting Wednesday, participants heard about some unexpected insights arising from a workshop held this week between patients and pharmacists who are creating a patient-centered outcomes research agenda focused on addressing social determinants of health (SDOH) in the community pharmacy setting.

Panelists discussed results of a survey conducted among 171 benefits leaders representing more than 40 million covered lives.

The pandemic drove telehealth usage, but it has challenges that might prevent doctors from prescribing new therapies, said Doug Long, MBA, vice president, industry relations, IQVIA.

Adam Fein, PhD, of Drug Channels Institute, and Doug Long of IQVIA discussed trends in the specialty pharmacy market in the United States.

Representatives from employers, pharmacy benefit managers, and others discussed methods of improving pharmacy access and affordability in health plans.

Value-based payments were a benefit during the pandemic, but it remains to be seen if patients are interested in keeping those changes in care delivery as the pandemic recedes, said Jayson Slotnik, partner, Health Policy Strategies, Inc.

Scott Gottlieb, MD, and Adam Fein, PhD, discussed potential fallout of the FDA Aduhelm approval and lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his talk, "340B at 30 and the Impending Cliff on the Road to 40," Tim Paine outlines how the program came to be and what needs to happen to improve future implementation.

There are several pieces of legislation that could have an impact on drug rebates, explained Tracy Russell, senior director, government affairs, CoverMyMeds.

The approval of aducanumab (Aduhelm) was very controversial. There are 3 promising Alzheimer disease drugs in the pipeline with trials evaluating the efficacy, and there is a huge unmet need for these therapies, said Ray Tancredi, RPh, MBA, CSP, divisional vice president, specialty pharmacy development and brand Rx/vaccine purchasing, Walgreens.

The opening plenary of the Spring 2022 National Association of Accountable Care Organizations conference focused on addressing health equity and improving synergy between CMS and ACOs.

Avalere is presenting at Asembia’s 2022 Specialty Pharmacy Summit, and Ryan Urgo, MPAP, managing director, health policy, discusses possible drug pricing policy options on the table for the Biden administration to consider in a midterm election year.

Numerous topics will be addressed at this year's Asembia Specialty Pharmacy Summit, held in-person in Las Vegas from May 2 through 5, including updates on cell and gene therapies and insights on the future of the industry.

Gary Owens, MD, president of Gary Owens Associates, outlines the challenges of screening for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

A combination of biology, access issues, and delayed diagnoses have contributed to disparities experienced by Black women with metastatic breast cancer, explained Hatem Soliman, MD, medical director of the Clinical Trials Office, Moffitt Cancer Center.

Bill Vandivier, DO, outlines the challenges brought on by health care consolidation in his talk at the National Association of Managed Care Physicians Spring Managed Care Forum.

Bill Vandivier, DO, a consultant at Insight Health Partners, explains how the health care industry differs from traditional corporations with regard to consolidation.

Dexter Shurney, MD, MBA, MPH, chief health equity, diversity, and inclusion officer and chief medical officer at Adventist Health, explains the roles of health care systems and managed care organizations, and next steps to update policies, to ensure healthy food is available in all areas of the United States.

Dexter Shurney, MD, MBA, MPH, chief health equity, diversity, and inclusion officer and chief medical officer at Adventist Health, discusses the concept of "food as medicine," which he will be explaining further at the National Association of Managed Care Physicians (NAMCP) Spring Managed Care Forum.

Complete with business, health management, and oncology tracks, sessions at the National Association of Managed Care Physicians (NAMCP) Spring Managed Care Forum will focus on a variety of topics.

Stephen M. Schleicher, MD, MBA, chief medical officer, Tennessee Oncology, previews the Nashville meeting of The American Journal of Managed Care®'s Institute for Value-Based Medicine® (IVBM), co-hosted by Tennessee Oncology.

Reducing low-value care means saving money, reducing potential harm, and creating room for high-value care to be delivered in the United States.

Panelists touted the ability to pay for items and repairs to keep Medicare beneficiaries healthier at home, avoiding potentially costly hospitalizations and complications.

Without addressing rising costs, the problem of underinsurance in health care coverage will remain, said panelists at the 2022 V-BID Summit, discussing some of the smaller steps that are being proposed or are already in place to try to ease the financial burden.

Patients often have comorbidities that make it important to consider them holistically and not bucket them into one disease state, and the findings on rivaroxaban show broad benefits and a favorable risk-benefit profile, said Marc Bonaca, MD, MPH, of CPC Clinical Research and CPC Community Health and the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Treating children with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) early can help reduce progression of atherosclerosis without adverse events related to growth and development, said Raul Santos, MD, PhD, director, Lipid Clinic at the Heart Institute, and associate professor, University of São Paulo Medical School, Brazil.

Patients hospitalized for acute heart failure and prescribed empagliflozin saw improvements in quality of life at 15 and 90 days post-discharge. The study may make the case for prescribing SGLT2 inhibitors before patients leave the hospital.

Researchers presented new data on patient characteristics and outcomes seen in the VICTORIA trial of vericiguat.