Dr Stacey W. McCullough Discusses High-Cost Therapies and Me-Too Drugs

Stacey W. McCullough, PharmD, senior vice president of pharmacy at Tennessee Oncology, discussed strategies for managing high-cost treatments, the impact of me-too drugs, and how clinical pathways can help physicians make treatment decisions at the point of care.

Transcript (slightly modified)

What strategies for managing high-cost treatments aren't working, or could use some improvement?

I think that putting all drugs in the same category is very difficult in that some agents maybe appropriate for patients to receive without any type of submission of paperwork, etc, into the insurance provider. Certainly we understand that there are restraints and that they need to be managed, but there could be concessions, particularly with certain agents that were deemed worthy of first-line treatment.

What is the impact that "me-too" drugs have on healthcare costs?

Me-too drugs, as they've come into the market and have been priced at a premium to the existing drugs, there is no incentive basically to differentiate between the products, so when doing that it's left to the individual prescriber to choose which drug they would prefer. Whereas there could be some differentiation made in the front end and put parameters in place as far as guidance. I believe that would be well received.

How can clinical pathways help with making treatment decisions and what efforts are being made to incorporate pathways into healthcare organizations?

Clinical pathways if done correctly can be very beneficial for practices, payers, and patients alike, in that they would give some guidance to the physician at the site of care. Phsyicians don't typically worry most about cost, they worry most about the patient, but some insight into the cost of therapy at the point of care would be very beneficial and I think it would help them in guiding some decisions.