Understanding pharmacy trend is important for developing robust, cost-saving specialty drug management strategies. But did you know you can’t really compare one trend number to another? Every PBM uses different methodologies, data sets, and calculations to arrive at their pharmacy trend number. Additionally, one of the largest cost drivers of specialty spend today—prescriptions drugs dispensed…
Precision medicine describes an approach to treatment based on an individual patient’s unique genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors. Genetic data, in particular, is central to the concept of precision medicine. Perhaps more so than with any other disease state, precision medicine has had a definitive impact on the treatment of cancer. With the approval of…
In January, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) published Advancing Health through Innovation: 2018 New Drug Therapy Approvals. This report provides a benchmark for approvals and highlights the game-changers approved in 2018. Compared to 2016 and 2017, in which CDER approved 22 and 46 new drugs, respectively, in…
Making smoother transitions from work to home and vice versa can help you enjoy all aspects of your life more. While bringing work issues home seems to be the most common problem, some simple strategies can help ease the transition in either direction. Use goodbye rituals Whether it’s saying goodbye to your family members and…
Note: The excerpt is from “How Work-Life Flow Is Shaping Success at Magellan”, first published here. “People work best when they are happy and have the space to think and consider, to rest and recharge. Working shouldn’t mean missing out on some of those key family moments or having to struggle with responsibilities due to stress and exhaustion….
One of the greatest challenges in managed care is staying up-to-date on the constantly evolving healthcare landscape. This can be especially overwhelming for high cost, complex specialty disease states. Payers are often faced with making difficult coverage decisions for hundreds of disease states as they also juggle prioritizing daily job tasks, such as managing drug…
Specialty drug spend made up 41% of all drug spend ($318 billion) for the United States and European countries in 2017(1). New projections show specialty drugs will contribute to ALL of 2018 total drug spend growth due to a combination of explosive pharmacy trend in the specialty drug arena as well as declines in traditional…
Some people experience a serious mood change during the winter months, when there is less natural sunlight. This condition is called seasonal affective disorder (SAD). SAD is a type of depression, and usually lifts during spring and summer. Seasonal affective disorder impacts those who live in specific geographical areas, typically those who live in northern…
Reasons to tell people about it Whether or not you discuss your condition with family, friends or coworkers is a personal decision. You may find it hard to talk about your diagnosis, or you may be concerned about how others will react. Ideally, the people around you will accept your illness and be encouraging. Bear…