AJMC® in the Press, April 5, 2019

An article from Health Data Management cited a study published in the January issue of The American Journal of Managed Care^® (AJMC^®). The study, “Understanding the Relationship Between Data Breaches and Hospital Advertising Expenditures,” found that a data breach was associated with a 64% increase in annual advertising expenditures. The researchers concluded that efforts to repair the hospital’s image and minimize patient loss to competitors are potential drivers of the increased spending.

Skilled Nursing News’ article on skilled nursing networks included the AJMC^®-published study “Drivers of Health Information Exchange Use During Postacute Care Transitions.” The study found that health information exchange between hospitals and skilled nursing facilities is underused, and a mixed-methods approach is critical to understanding and explaining variation in implementation and use.

The AJMC^®-published study “Battling the Chargemaster: A Simple Remedy to Balance Billing for Unavoidable Out-of-Network Care” was mentioned in an article from The Post and Courier. The study reviewed rudimentary contract law and proposed a simple legal mechanism to combat chargemaster abuses and encourage provider price competition.

The Biologics Prescriber Collaborative’s March Biologics & Biosimilars Bulletin included several articles from AJMC^®’s sister site The Center for Biosimilars^®. The first article, “FDA Approves Pfizer’s Trastuzumab Biosimilar, Trazimera,” covered the FDA’s approval of the biosimilar referencing Herceptin following positive findings from the comparative clinical trial for the biosimilar, REFLECTIONS B327-02. The article “FDA Releases Guidance on Biologic, Biosimilar, and Interchangeable Biosimilar Naming Conventions” covered updated draft guidance in which the FDA indicated it no longer intended to retroactively give approved biologics 4-letter suffixes devoid of meaning. The third article, “White House Budget Contains a Raft of Biosimilar Proposals,” reported on the administration’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2020, which contained a variety of proposals that would impact biosimilars, including creating disincentives for pay-for-delay agreements.

OBR Oncology’s Friday newsfeed included AJMC^®’s coverage of the 2019 Community Oncology (COA) Conference. The article, “COA Close to Filing OCM 2.0 for Federal Review,” covered a session from the first day of the conference that gave an update on COA's alternative to the Oncology Care Model that it will file with the Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee later this month.

The National Pharmaceutical Council’s Monday CER Daily Newsfeed included an article from AJMC^® on value-based care. The article, “Value-Based Care Is Changing Cancer Treatment Decisions as Drug Costs Continue to Rise,” which covered an Integra Connect study that found that community oncologists face challenges with reducing costs as novel therapies continue to drive up the cost of drugs. Other challenges reported in the survey included reporting requirements, reducing emergency department visits, and transforming the practice for success.