Might Ultra-Orphans Enjoy An Easier Passage Past NICE? Perhaps. After much back-and-forth, it seems our old friend NICE will, starting in 2013, assess the cost-effectiveness of high-cost drugs for patients suffering from ultra-rare diseases (affecting fewer than 500 patients across England). These kinds of products, increasingly popular with drug firms, generally struggle to meet NICE’s general evidence requirements (given the difficulty of data collection). Thus, in the past, the agency has considered – and approved … Continue reading
The Healthcare Round-Up: May 19-26
Real Endpoints would like to congratulate our intern, Halleh Balch, on her graduation from Swarthmore College. We expect great things from Halleh in the years to come; she is one to watch! PSA: To test – or not to test. The big news this week was the United States Preventative Services Task Force’s decision to downgrade the necessity prostate-specific antigen test. After reviewing two large studies, the task force’s working group decided the PSA test, which … Continue reading
Are We Really That Different? Transatlantic Lessons In Shopping For Value
The Americans and the English might think that their health care systems are very different: one, a commercial, private-insurer driven network whose incentives are as mis-aligned as its per-capita spend is high; the other, a state-funded, friendly-yet-inefficient model characterized by rationing. There are plenty of similarities, though. Firstly, the pressures – most obviously, spiraling costs — are the same, whether they’re hitting state-owned or private payers. England’s patchwork of regional, public payers (the Trusts) make … Continue reading
The Healthcare Round-Up: 1/17 – 1/23
Welcome back after an eventful weekend. Newt won South Carolina; the Patriots’ defense upended the Baltimore Ravens; and fans of the 49ers are wearing black and debating the merits of the team’s QB. Meantime, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (known to policy wonks everywhere by its acronym PCORI) is officially seeking input on its national research priorities. Have an opinion? You have 52 days to weigh in with your take on how PCORI ought to … Continue reading
The Healthcare Round-Up: 1/10 -1/17
The JP Morgan investment confab has closed for another year — and payers and providers were prominently on display. Not-for-profits had their own track — which felt kind of ironic in that festival of free-market healthcare capitalism — but we suppose JPM is aiming to educate the private equity guys looking for service opportunities. And the not-for-profits, as uncertain about the economics of healthcare as everyone else, are plenty interested in meeting folks with money … Continue reading
The Healthcare Round-Up: 1/4 – 1/8
Biopharma and device companies big and small are in San Francisco this week for the annual hepatic challenge known as J.P. Morgan. Lest you think product makers get to have all the fun, this year there are more than a few payers on the investor docket. Aetna, Cigna, Humana, and WellPoint make their pitches Tuesday, while smaller, but no less interesting health systems like Geisinger, Kaiser, and Intermountain Healthcare also have their chance to opine … Continue reading