Lauren Harner Discusses Legal Risks of Implementing Adherence Innovations

Although there are innovative ideas from drug manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) about improving medication adherence, no one wants to get into legal trouble to implement them, said Lauren Harner, JD, senior manager of policy at PhRMA.

Transcript (slightly modified for readability)

What is the biggest challenge to improving medication adherence?

What I really see as one of the big impediments to improving adherence is the fact that not all stakeholders can necessarily engage in developing new programs related to adherence. As a lawyer, one of the things that concerns me is the fact that the federal anti-kickback statute currently isn't clear about how groups like drug manufacturers and PBMs can sort of engage with Medicare and Medicaid patients to improve adherence.

I know there are a lot of innovative ideas out there, but no one wants to get into legal trouble trying to implement them. I think one of the things that PhRMA is focusing on is to ensure there is no legal risk for our members and other stakeholders who want to improve adherence.