AJMC® in the Press, March 15, 2019

A study in this month’s issue of The American Journal of Managed Care^® (AJMC^®) was mentioned by POLITICO in their Morning eHealth on Monday. The study, “Medicare Annual Wellness Visit Association With Health Quality and Costs,” found that among beneficiaries treated by primary care providers affiliated with 2 accountable care organizations, the Medicare Annual Wellness Visit was associated with greater delivery of preventive care and lower total healthcare costs.

An article from the Journal of Clinical Pathways cited an AJMC^® interview with Kathleen Lokay, president and chief executive officer of Via Oncology. During the interview, Lokay discussed how clinical pathways can help providers avoid delays with prior authorization by ensuring that all the necessary information is there.

OBR Oncology’s Tuesday daily newsfeed included an article from AJMC^®’s sister publication The Center for Biosimilars^®. The article, “FDA Approves Pfizer’s Trastuzumab Biosimilar, Trazimera,” covered the FDA’s approval of the biosimilar referencing Herceptin based on data from REFLECTIONS B327-02. Wednesday’s newsfeed included AJMC^®’s latest episode of Managed Care Cast. During the podcast, Ted Okon, executive director of the Community Oncology Alliance (COA), discusses a number of policies affecting COA’s members, including proposals around chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies.

An article from AJMC^® on specialty drugs was included in the National Pharmaceutical Council’s Monday CER Daily Newsfeed. The article, “Specialty Drugs Remain a Costly Concern for Employers With No Easy Answers,” covered a report from the Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute that found costs remain the top concern of healthcare purchasers of pharmacy benefits. Wednesday’s newsfeed included the AJMC^® article “New Statewide Pilot in Virginia Aims to Reduce Low-Value Care, Decrease Costs and Patient Harm,” which reported that the Virginia Center for Health Innovation is launching a 3-year statewide pilot to reduce the use of low-value care in the commonwealth. The newsfeed also included The Center for Biosimilars'^® article “ICER Paper Analyzes 3 Options to Overhaul Pharmaceutical Rebates,” which covered a report from the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) discussing possible alternatives to the pharmaceutical rebate systems that currently exists with pharmacy benefit managers.