CBI’s Patient Registries, Real World Evidence and HEOR

CBI’s Patient Registries, Real World Evidence and HEOR
January 27-28, 2020 | Miami, FL
www.cbinet.com/RWE

Kick off 2020 in Miami at the Patient Registries, Real World Evidence and HEOR Summit! Come together with colleagues from across the industry to discuss the latest innovations and best practices for collecting, analyzing and utilizing patient data.

Visit www.cbinet.com/RWE for further details and to register. Drug Channels readers will save $300 off the standard rate when they use code ZUS222 and register prior to December 13, 2019.*

With three dedicated tracks – Patient Registries, RWE and HEOR – the conference focuses on common goals for participants centered on using data to improve treatment and outcomes. Sign up to see the agenda here.

Experts from Jazz Pharmaceuticals, AHRQ, Pfizer, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Amicus Therapeutics, Novartis, NORD, EMD Serono, Biogen, Global Healthy Living Foundation, AstraZeneca, Stamford Health, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, Global Genes, Geisinger, BeiGene, Takeda Canada, Bridge the Gap - SYNGAP Education and Research Foundation and more will lead robust discussions on topics such as:

• The Evolving Industry Landscape and the Role of Real World Evidence in Optimizing Market Access and Patient Outcomes
• Getting to High-Quality Real-World Data and Applying it to RWE
• Navigate Health Data Governance to Improve Treatments and Outcomes
• Bringing Data Back to Patients — Empowering Patients through Data Sharing
• Global Perspective and Outlook on Registries and RWE
• Emerging Ethical and Compliance Issues in RWD-Driven Research
• Harmonization of Outcomes Measures for More Patient-Centric Care
• Leverage Machine Learning and New Technologies to Enhance RWE Generation and Outcomes Research
• And much more!

Visit www.cbinet.com/RWE for further details and to register. Drug Channels readers will save $300 off the standard rate when they use code ZUS222 and register prior to December 13, 2019.*

CBI will see you there!

*Cannot be combined with other offers or used towards a current registration. Cannot be combined with special category rate or non-profit rates. Other restrictions may apply.

---

The content of Sponsored Posts does not necessarily reflect the views of Pembroke Consulting, Inc., Drug Channels, or any of its employees.

Drug Channels News Roundup, November 2019: Amazon Pharmacy, JAMA 340B Redux, Diplomat, Hospital-Physician Integration, and the FDA

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Before you stretch your stomach, stretch your mind with some food for thought. In this issue:

• Here comes Amazon Pharmacy

• OIG Confirms it: the JAMA 340B paper is wrong

• Diplomat gets close to the edge

• Unfortunately unsurprising news about hospital-physician integration

Plus, a timely new campaign from the FDA.

P.S. Join the more than 8,400 people who follow @DrugChannels on Twitter. My recent tweets have highlighted biosimilars, telehealth, the Walgreens LBO, ICER, hospital consolidation, H.R.3 and biotech, reference pricing for U.S. healthcare spending, global channels overlord Stefano Pessina, and Canadians.

---

Drug Channels Institute will host an exclusive live webinar, Drug Channels Outlook: What You Need to Watch in 2020, on Friday, December 13, 2019, from 12 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. ET. Get ready for what will certainly be another year of change for U.S. healthcare. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE AND SIGN UP.

---

Part B Update: Hospitals Displacing Physicians, Amid Slow Growth in Drug Prices

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), the independent agency that advises Congress on the Medicare program, recently released its June 2019 Data Book: Health Care Spending and the Medicare Program.

This year’s report provides the latest details about the ongoing disruption of the buy-and-bill market in Medicare Part B. As you will see below:

• Physician offices account for a diminishing share of Part B spending, though absolute spending at these sites continues to grow. 

• Hospital outpatient settings have been crowding out physician offices. Hospital outpatient departments now account for more than 40% of Part B spending—and an even greater share for oncology products.

What's more, Part B spending has grown much faster than drug prices. The prices paid by Medicare for the top 10 Part B drugs have been growing at low- to mid-single digit rates. Spending has grown due to more beneficiaries and the adoption of newer, higher-priced therapies.

The Trump administration has signaled that it wants Medicare to pay less for Part B drugs. Its primary proposals focus on comparisons to prices paid by other countries. These analyses conveniently overlook the lower drug prices that manufacturers provide to the Medicaid program and 340B hospitals.

It looks like 2020 will not be relaxing times for the buy-and-bill channel.

---

Drug Channels Institute will host an exclusive live webinar, Drug Channels Outlook: What You Need to Watch in 2020, on Friday, December 13, 2019, from 12 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. ET. Get ready for what will certainly be another year of change for U.S. healthcare. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE AND SIGN UP.

---

CBI's 15th Annual Life Sciences Trade and Channel Strategies

CBI’s 15th Annual Life Sciences Trade and Channel Strategies
December 3-5, 2019 | Philadelphia, PA
www.cbinet.com/trade

Hit the ground running in 2020 by closing out the year at Trade and Channel 2019! The life science industry's foremost thought-leaders will come together on December 3-5 to unravel the complexities of the distribution channel, navigate high-impact topics transforming trade and benchmark winning pharmacy and distribution frameworks.

Visit www.cbinet.com/trade for further details and to register. Drug Channels readers will save $200 off the standard rate when they use code UTC356 and register prior to November 29th.*

You can download the complete agenda here.

Can't Miss Keynotes include:

• Drug Channels Update - Things to Watch in 2020
  Adam J. Fein, Ph.D., CEO, Drug Channels Institute
• Fireside Chat - Candid Conversation with an Industry Pioneer
  Bill Roth, Founding Partner, Blue Fin Group
• Healthcare Policy Address - Current State of Regulatory Reform Driving Innovation and Access
  Eric D. Hargan, Deputy Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
• How the New Wave of Algorithmic Care Will Disrupt Your Business
  Zen Chu, Investor, PillPack; Senior Lecturer in Healthcare Innovation, MIT Sloan School of Management and Harvard-MIT Health Sciences & Technology

In-Depth Summits, Interactive Workshops and Tailored Tracks focusing on:

• New Product Launch Planning
• Mitigate Compliance Risk in Manufacturer and Specialty Pharmacy Contracts
• Digital and Blockchain Technology Adoption and Implementation
• Retail and POS Contracting
• Forward-Thinking Strategies for Specialty Generics and Biosimilars
• 340B - Best Practices to Improve Compliance and Manage Drug Diversion
• Specialty Channel Network Design and Contracting
• Market Access, Patient Support and Hub Services Optimization
• Next-Gen Specialty Product Data Strategies

Download the agenda to plan your sessions and prepare to return to the office armed with critical updates and valuable takeaways.

Visit www.cbinet.com/trade for further details and to register. Drug Channels readers will save $200 off the standard rate when they use code UTC356 and register prior to November 29th.*

CBI will see you there!

*Cannot be combined with other offers or used towards a current registration. Cannot be combined with special category rates, clinic/hospital rates, non-profit rates other offers. Other restrictions may apply.

---

The content of Sponsored Posts does not necessarily reflect the views of Pembroke Consulting, Inc., Drug Channels, or any of its employees.

Drug Channels Outlook: What You Need to Watch in 2020 (A Drug Channels Institute Live Webinar)

On December 13 at 12:00 p.m to 1:00 p.m. ET, Drug Channels Institute (DCI) will host an exclusive new webinar: Drug Channels Outlook: What You Need to Watch in 2020. Join Dr. Adam J. Fein, CEO of DCI and the author of Drug Channels, for this one hour, live event as he helps you understand and get ready for what will certainly be another year of change for U.S. healthcare.

Click here to sign up for this unique educational opportunity for only $250 per site. If you want access for 10 or more sites, contact Paula Fein (paula@drugchannelsinstitute.com) for special pricing.

The webinar’s benefits include:

• An unlimited number of people may listen at one location! Invite your whole team for an hour of intensive learning and strategic insight. The presentation is sure to spark important internal discussion about the coming year’s implications for your business.

• The opportunity to ask Dr. Fein questions during the event

• Dr. Fein’s slides and analysis of the marketplace. You’ll also receive a downloadable PDF with the webinar slides.

• Access via any device with a web browser (computer, iPad, iPhone/Android, etc.)

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

We will help you and your team get ready for the year ahead by outlining key issues and uncertainties that will surely affect your planning.

Dr. Fein will share his latest thinking on:

• The crucial market trends that will drive the strategies of pharmacies, wholesalers, PBMs, and payers

• What’s next for drug pricing and the gross-to-net bubble

• The prospects for vertical integration, consolidations, and novel channel alliances

• How health plans and payers will manage drug channels

• The likely changes to government regulations and policy

• An update on prospects for disruption by Amazon and other new entrants

PLUS: Dr. Fein will take your questions.

HOW TO SIGN UP

The webinar will take place on December 13, 2019, at 12:00 p.m. ET.

Sign up now for only $250 per site.

• After you register, you will receive an email with the information you will need to access our webinar and add it to your calendar. We will also send you reminder emails one day and one hour before the event.

• We will use Zoom technology for this webinar. You will be able to view the webinar with your browser or by downloading the Zoom client software/app.
  

• Invite your entire field team to listen at multiple sites around the country. Contact Paula Fein (paula@drugchannelsinstitute.com) to get special pricing for 10 or more locations. If you purchase access for multiple sites, we will contact you for the name and email address of a contact person at each location.

• If your plans change and you can’t make it on December 13, we will provide an opportunity to watch a replay of the webinar. Unfortunately, we are unable to offer refunds.

• Pembroke Consulting clients receive free access to the webinar. Contact Tamra Feldman (admin@drugchannels.net) for details. Note that we will automatically refund purchases from Pembroke’s corporate clients.

Employer Pharmacy Benefits in 2019: High Deductibles and Greater Coinsurance Expose Even More Patients to Prescription List Prices

It’s time for our annual deep dive into employer-sponsored health coverage via the 2019 Kaiser Family Foundation Employer Health Benefits Survey. This report provides valuable national benchmarking data. You can read it online for free.

Below, you’ll find my highlights of the report’s findings on prescription coverage. I summarize employers’ 2019 pharmacy benefits by examining (1) cost sharing tier structures, (2) the prevalence of copayment vs. coinsurance, and (3) average copayments and coinsurance rates, by formulary tier. I break down the 2019 results for plans with and without high deductibles.

Employer benefit designs increasingly expose patients to the list price of their prescriptions. This is due largely to the benefit designs described below, which have shifted out-of-pocket spending for prescription drugs from copayments toward deductible and coinsurance spending. As you will see, cost sharing for prescription drugs in high-deductible plans differs significantly from that of plans that lack high deductibles. Plans with no limit on out-of-pocket expenses remain distressingly common.

Patients are finding their benefits to be increasingly mysterious, with more tiers, more coinsurance, and greater use of deductibles. When people complain about “drug prices,” they are actually complaining about the share of costs that they pay—and how those costs are computed. Put another way, the plan details won’t give employees a glad expression.

Read on for my analysis along with our annual Drug Channels tiers/tears puns.

CBI’s Medicare Pricing & Contracting Congress

CBI’s Medicare Pricing & Contracting Congress
February 25-26, 2020 | Hilton Alexandria Old Town | Alexandria, VA
www.cbinet.com/medicare2020

The current Medicare and drug pricing landscape is facing the potential for seismic changes in the year ahead. CBI’s Medicare Pricing & Contracting Congress expands in 2020 to convene stakeholders representing bio/pharma manufacturers, health plans, PBMs and leading policy advisors to provide critical updates and analysis on the impact of changing legislation.

Visit www.cbinet.com/Medicare2020 for more information. Drug Channels readers will save $500 off the standard registration rate when they use promo code RDU698*.

Benefit from In-Depth Discussions on High-Impact Issues:

• Political and legislative trends impacting coverage & access
• International Pricing Index Model (IPI) and Most Favored-Nations Clause updates
• Changes to Part B and ASP reporting requirements
• Trends and insights into Medicare Part D drug spending
• Considerations for balancing care and quality while delivering patient-centric outcomes
• Approaches for value-based contracting and alternative payment models

PLUS! Choose Between Two Tracks of Content:

1. Pricing & Contracting — for manufacturers
2. Part D Plan Strategies —for health plans and PBMs

Distinguished Speakers Driving the Dialogue:

• Mike Anderson, Pharm.D., CEO, Part D, UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement
• Dan Wygal, Executive Director, Contract and Channel Strategy, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals
• Laura Crawn, Senior Director, Government Programs Market Strategy & Support, Express Scripts
• Steve Phillips, Senior Director, Health Policy Worldwide Government Affairs & Policy, Johnson & Johnson
• Michelle Drozd, Executive Director Reimbursement Policy, Gilead Sciences
• Kendra Martello, Executive Director, Public Policy & Corporate Social Responsibility, Government Affairs & Public Policy, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals
• John Gorman, Founder and Chairman, Nightingale Partners
  
• And more!
REGISTER TODAY!

Visit www.cbinet.com/Medicare2020 for more information. Drug Channels readers will save $500 off the standard registration rate when they use promo code RDU698*.

*Offer applies to standard rates only and may not be combined with other offers, category rates, promotions or applied to an existing registration. Offer not valid on workshop only or academic/non-profit registrations.

---

The content of Sponsored Posts does not necessarily reflect the views of Pembroke Consulting, Inc., Drug Channels, or any of its employees.

A Tale of Two Chains: Walgreens Exits Pharmacy Clinics While CVS Reinvents In-Store Care

For retail clinics, is it the best of times or the worst of times?

Walgreens  retail clinic business has been floundering. Last week, Walgreens announced that it would shut the last of its in-house retail clinics and in favor of outsourcing clinic operations to hospitals and health systems.

Other retailers are investing in more expansive healthcare services to realize the promise of store-based healthcare. That’s one reason why CVS Health is rolling out its HealthHUBs, while Walmart is phasing out its traditional retail clinics in favor of a more comprehensive Walmart Health offering.

Below, I review the retail clinic market in 2019. Many large retail chains operate clinics, but their strategies and growth rates differ. I expect the traditional retail clinic model to fade in favor of locations with broader healthcare services. This new direction will put pharmacies in more direct competition with urgent care clinics and primary care providers.

Pay close attention to how CVS Health leverages its Aetna business to manage site-of-care costs. Investors, payers, and patients will soon determine whether this has been the age of wisdom or the age of foolishness.

CVS Health’s Specialty Gain Is McKesson’s Pain

Last week, McKesson released its earnings for the third calendar quarter of 2019. (See the links below.) The company revealed unexpectedly high revenue growth in its distribution business—but little incremental profit from these new revenues. Its stock dropped sharply on the news.

The thief that burgled the missing profits: CVS Health, McKesson’s largest customer. McKesson’s financial results reflected the challenges of an ultra-low profit customer that unexpectedly started growing much faster than the overall industry.

Consolidation and concentration in the pharmacy and pharmacy benefit management (PBM) industries continue to pressure wholesalers’ profits. Manufacturers and smaller customers should get ready for the fryer. Robble robble!

Pharmaceutical Drug Pricing Strategies and Copay Summits

Pharmaceutical Drug Pricing Strategies and Copay Summits
December 11-12, 2019 | Alexandria, VA

World Congress invites you to the Pharmaceutical Drug Pricing Strategies and Copay Summits where experts will share their solutions for critical issues.

Join your peers to learn from 35 speakers and enjoy 5 hours of networking at The Westin, Alexandria, VA. Drug Channels readers save $200 off the standard rate when you use promo code DC200 and register by November 8th.* To register your team, contact World Congress at 800-767-9499.

The price of prescription drugs and affordability of treatments is at the center of the health care debate. These Summits address the critical juncture of price and affordability, by showcasing strategies, innovations, and best practices across the bio/pharmaceutical industry to share how to be a part of the solution.

Given the recent news headlines, Senate finance hearings, and the introduction of drug pricing transparency laws, drug pricing is under the national spotlight. Hear both perspectives at the Pharmaceutical Drug Pricing Strategies Summit which brings pricing and reimbursement leaders together to discuss the future of federal and state pricing requirements, transparency regulations, and strategic drug pricing models.

The 2nd Annual Copay Summit convenes multiple stakeholders together, from manufacturers, payers, states, government, advocacy, and foundational groups, to examine regulations and innovations around the use of Copay and Coupon programs, and Copay Accumulator and Maximizers in an evolving health care landscape.

The Summits’ in-depth sessions will help you attain solutions for issues your organization faces in drug pricing and copay strategies.

• Develop strategic drug pricing models to meet federal and state pricing requirements and ensure transparency
• Examine the changes regarding copay accumulator adjustments, state copay legislation, and compliant assistance programs
• Explore multi-stakeholder insights from manufacturers, and insurers, on the future of drug price transparency and patient affordability

Our distinguished speaking faculty will share their insights:

• Mike Mason, Vice President, Lilly Diabetes, Senior Vice President, Connected Care and Insulins Eli Lilly and Company; he recently testified before the U.S. House of Representatives
• Robert Popovian, Vice President, US Government Relations, Pfizer; he has published and presented extensively on the impact of biopharmaceuticals and health policies on health care costs and clinical outcomes
• Peter Pitts, President of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest; he is a former member of the United States Senior Executive Service and was FDA’s Associate Commissioner for External Relations

Join your peers to learn from 35 speakers and enjoy 5 hours of networking at The Westin, Alexandria, VA. Drug Channels readers save $200 off the standard rate when you use promo code DC200 and register by November 8th.* To register your team, contact World Congress at 800-767-9499.

*Cannot be combined with other offers or prior registrations.

---

The content of Sponsored Posts does not necessarily reflect the views of Pembroke Consulting, Inc., Drug Channels, or any of its employees.

Connecting Providers and Technology: Improving the Patient Journey Through Actionable Insights

Today’s guest post comes from Ben Stormer, Vice President of Specialty Product Development and Strategy at CoverMyMeds and Regina Murphy, Vice President of Product Strategy, Access and Adherence at RxCrossroads by McKesson.

Ben and Regina describe AMP: Access for More Patients™, a new technology-based hub service solution from CoverMyMeds and RxCrossroads by McKesson. To learn more about AMP, visit go.covermymeds.com/specialty.

Read on for Ben’s and Regina’s insights.