AJMC® in the Press, May 4, 2018

The National Pharmaceutical Council’s (NPC’s) Wednesday CER Daily Newsfeed highlighted the latest podcast by The American Journal of Managed Care^® (AJMC^®): “Low-Value Services: Their Impact and Challenges With Addressing Them.” During the podcast, Jason Buxbaum, MHSA, project manager, V-BID Health, and Robert Dubois, MD, PhD, chief scientific officer, NPC, discuss low-value services, the financial impact they have and what states are doing to address them, and the challenges with addressing them.

The Winston-Salem Journal reported on a new federal mandate that will require hospitals to post a list of standard medical charges on their website and, in its coverage, highlighted a study published in AJMC^®. The study, “Variation in Markups on Outpatient Oncology Services in the United States,” found that charges for oncology services vary greatly across hospitals and impose financial burdens. The study concluded that further legislation is needed to address disparities in access to high-quality cancer care.

In a press release on Klikkit, a smart button and mobile app to address medication adherence, the AJMC^® published study, “Cost-Benefit of Appointment-Based Medication Synchronization in Community Pharmacies,” was mentioned. The study highlighted medication nonadherence as a major barrier to the effective management of patients with chronic condition, causing 33% to 69% of medicine-related hospitalizations.

In OBR Oncology’s OBR Daily Newsfeed Wednesday, an article from AJMC^®’s The Center for Biosimilars^® was included. The article, “FDA Rejects Sandoz’s Proposed Rituximab Biosimilar,” covered the company’s announcement that it received a Complete Response Letter from the FDA for its GP2013. Sandoz filed its Biologics License Application for the proposed biosimilar in Septment 2017, following the European approval of the drug.