Interviews

Hilary Baldwin, MD, medical director, Acne Treatment and Research Center, discusses new therapies for acne and unmet needs for the condition.

Marc-Andre Cornier, MD, professor and director of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases at the Medical University of South Carolina, describes the genetic factor that contributes to obesity risk.

Biomarker testing is having growing importance to ensure that patients are started on the correct therapy for the best outcomes, said Sneha Sharma, PharmD, director, specialty clinical solutions, Magellan Rx.

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.

Alexis Garcia, PharmD, senior director of business development at Tabula Rasa HealthCare, explains the importance of up-to-date data when implementing medication therapy management programs.

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.

Health plans and payers have plenty of options for how to analyze the effectiveness of digital therapeutic tools, as there are several effective strategies, according to Soumya Vishwanath, PharmD, of Magellan Rx Management.

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.

Sharon Phares, PhD, MPH, discussed her new appointment as the chief scientific officer of the National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC) and her main priorities in honor of Women's Health Month.

The intent of metastatic disease treatment is palliative, not curative, so we try to prolong life and provide quality of life as much as we can, said Hatem Soliman, MD, medical director of the Clinical Trials Office, Moffitt Cancer Center.

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.

Steven Yeh, MD, professor of ophthalmology at the Truhlsen Eye Institute at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, discusses the length of Xipere's treatment benefits and potential learning curves regarding its suprachoroidal delivery mechanism.

Gary Owens, MD, president of Gary Owens Associates, discusses current treatments available for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and where future directions in research may lead.

Patricia Deverka, MD, MS, senior researcher, deputy director at the Center for Translational and Policy Research and Precision Medicine, University of California San Francisco, explains what multicancer early detection tests currently exist and the research needed to understand their clinical utility.

Gillian Woollett, MA, Dphil, vice president and head of regulatory strategy and policy at Samsung Bioepis, gives insight into what international markets the United States could look to as examples of good biosimilar adoption.

Jason Myers, PhD, CEO of the New Zealand AIDS Foundation, addresses how New Zealand promptly adjusted its delivery of services for people living with HIV and AIDS in New Zealand, with examples including HIV self-test kits, online counseling, and provision of mental health care assistance.

Geoffrey Boyce, CEO of Array Behavioral Care, explains how Array is responding to the increasing demand and utilization of mental health and behavioral services.

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.

Marc-Andre Cornier, MD, professor and director of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases at the Medical University of South Carolina, explains how the mechanisms of mindfulness may help those with obesity lose weight.

William Schaffner, MD, medical director at the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID), and Patsy Stinchfield, RN, MS, CPNP, president-elect of NFID, explain what strategies they look forward to being implemented in the prevention and treatment of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

Alexis Garcia, PharmD, senior director of business development at Tabula Rasa HealthCare, outlines how cytochrome P450 enzymes can impact medication efficacy in patients taking multiple drugs.

Bernice Kwong, MD, clinical professor of dermatology, Stanford University, explains what dermatological considerations should be made for patients with leukemia and lymphoma.

Nathan H. Walcker, MBA, chief executive officer, Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute (FCSRI), discusses what guests can expect at the in-person Tampa meeting of The American Journal of Managed Care®'s Institute for Value-Based Medicine® (IVBM), co-hosted by FCSRI.

Michael Diaz, MD, president and managing physician, Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute, previews the Tampa meeting of The American Journal of Managed Care®'s Institute for Value-Based Medicine® (IVBM), cohosted by Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute.

Chronic kidney disease is the fastest-growing noncontagious disease in the United States. On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with Mike Spigler, vice president of patient support and education for the American Kidney Fund, who is spearheading the Unknown Causes of Kidney Disease Project, which aims to help underserved patients get to the root cause of their kidney disease, while also helping to solve this mystery for a broader patient population.

Hilary Baldwin, MD, medical director, Acne Treatment and Research Center, explains the microencapsulation technology in Twyneo cream and what research went into its development.

When clinicians consider the patient journey from beginning to end, they begin to understand how difficult it is for patients to access care, said Elaine Goodman, MD, MBA, clinical lead for population health management, Mass General Brigham.

Melissa Johnson, MD, program director of Lung Cancer Research at Sarah Cannon, discusses the potential of certain drug classes for lung cancer.

Gary Owens, MD, president of Gary Owens Associates, outlines the current epidemiological knowledge of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

The financial toxicity of newer metastatic breast cancer (MBC) treatments is a significant concern and requires stakeholders to work together to find the best value- and evidence-based treatments for patients, said Hatem Soliman, MD, medical director, Clinical Trials Office, Moffitt Cancer Center.