What We're Watching: January 30, 2019

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE

Tomorrow morning, the Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing titled, “Drug Pricing in America: A Prescription for Change, Part I.” Not to be outdone, the House Oversight Committee will then hold a hearing titled, “Examining the Actions of Drug Companies in Raising Prescription Drug Prices.”

What we’re saying: It’s clear that the legislative focus will return to drug prices and shortages this week. Premier has been focused on drug costs and access for quite some time from both an advocacy perspective and in our ability to bring solutions to the market. In fact, we think drug pricing is the most likely area for a significant legislative healthcare-related deal in this Congress. You may recall that recently when Premier announced ProvideGx, a company developed to supply shortage generic drugs to healthcare providers. ProvideGx is investing in solutions to drug shortages by partnering with generic manufacturers that can improve access to these products.

NOT AN ARM AND A LEG

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report on bundled payment models, including the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) model, among others. There is a lot of talk about possible mandatory bundled payment programs, and this report points to the benefits of that approach.

What we’re saying: In November 2017, Premier released CJR participant results from our Bundled Payment Collaborative which revealed that Premier members outperformed their peers by 35%. Tune in this week for our member results from performance year 2, as well as results from the Oncology Care Model, where we saw outperformance in both programs.

WELCOME TO ORLANDO

HIMSS – that little gathering of 45,000 of your closest friends in health IT – will be held from February 11-15 in Orlando.

What we’re saying: We’ve got a lot going on with a keynote speech from our CEO and all kinds of activities in booth #459.

• 2.10 – Premier is sponsoring the Power Press Party.
• 2.14 – Mark Hiller, VP of Bundled Payments will be speaking during a session titled “Navigating Multi-Hospital, Episode-Based Care Delivery” with Jennifer Waterbury, senior bundled payment engineer, AdventHealth.
• 2.15 – Susan DeVore, Premier’s CEO, will be delivering a keynote address, titled “Healing from Within: Leading Change, Inspiring Action.”

SNEAK A PEEK

People with chronic conditions contribute to a massive chunk of healthcare spending in the U.S. But identifying the areas of unnecessary expense and addressing ways to reduce costs has posed a challenge for many years.

What we’re saying: In a Premier analysis to be released soon, we’ve identified a wide range of variation among people with chronic conditions coming into the emergency department with millions of visits that could potentially be avoidable. There is an intense need for higher-quality primary care services that leverage more preventable practices and provide greater access to their facilities for non-urgent issues to improve care provided for these patients.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

• Premier Applied Sciences Role in Healthcare Transformation
• Premier Provides Input on FDA Proposed Framework for Regulating Drug-Use-Related Software
• Premier Inc. Announces Expanded Effort to Supply Shortage Generic Drugs

What We’re Watching is a weekly blog focused on the current events Premier is following and their relevance to the work of Premier and its members.