On June 26, 2019 at the Longworth House Office Building in Washington D.C., Vizient, and key leaders in the hospital industry gathered to discuss how providers nationwide are managing and mitigating rising prescription drug costs. Vizient provided Healthcare Purchasing News an exclusive recap, stating that the group discussed solutions, such as strategies to increase generic drug competition, enhance supply chain efficiencies, prepare for biosimilar adoption and help avoid drug shortages. Specifically, Dan Kistner, PharmD, Senior Vice President, Pharmacy Solutions, Vizient, spoke on the critical issues facing pharmacies, namely rising drug costs and drug shortages. He also outlined how Vizient is helping its members through drug shortages.
Congresswoman Angie Craig (D-MN-02) spoke from a political standpoint, and emphasized her interest in taking a look at our system broadly and seeing what immediate things can be done (regardless of what party it comes from) to ensure that more families can access and afford their healthcare. Ann E. Byre, PharmD, Vice President of Pharmacy Services, Allina Health, spoke on the complexity of the healthcare system. She cited examples of two hypotheticals, where different people looking for the same type of care would be forced to pay different prices and face different circumstances in how they got their coverage. Ann then discussed her concerns as a pharmacy leader at a hospital which include patient safety, affordability of patient medication, fragmented patient care, rising drug costs which can limit the expansion of pharmacist services. Christine Collins, RPh, MBA, Director of Pharmacy, Lifespan, discussed channel shifting, through the supply chain, limited dispensing and clinic administered infusions that can all play a part in increasing drug costs. She provided her thoughts on how to address this issue and mentioned the challenges with bringing biosimilars to market, which can lead to a lack of competition.
Key takeaways by speaker:
Dan Kistner, PharmD, Senior Vice President, Pharmacy Solutions, Vizient
· “Drug shortages and drug prices are influenced by the same thing: competition, ” said Kistner
· Vizient’s position on drug shortages is that it’s a multi-pronged problem. There is not one solution
· Competition, such as in the biosimilar or generic space, brings new supplies to market and that is going to help drug shortages
· Vizient is addressing the issue by placing a huge priority on advocacy (i.e. bringing awareness to the issue), proposing policy solutions and establishing strategic collaborations such as Civica Rx
· Vizient released a new survey of 365 hospital executives that found:
o US hospitals are dedicating 8.6 million additional labor hours to manage drug shortages each year, adding up to annual labor costs of just under $360 million
Congresswoman Angie Craig (D-MN-02)
· She introduced a bill, titled Price Relief, Innovation, and Competition for Essential Drugs (PRICED) Act, last week with Reps. Jan Schakowsky, Rosa DeLauro, Lloyd Doggett, Andy Levin, and Raja Krishnamoorthi that aims to lower the market exclusivity period for biologics from 12 years to five years
· “I believe so strongly that we need to unleash competition in the country and we need to make sure that people have a choice and we need to move to a system where every single American has access to healthcare they can afford. Not just health insurance, but healthcare,” said Craig
Ann E. Byre, PharmD, Vice President of Pharmacy Services, Allina Health
· At Alina Health, C-suite leaders worry about the rising drug cost problem, and the fact that it equals more than 5% of operating revenue and it continues to increase annually
· Incentives are not aligned between payors, consumers and healthcare systems
· "Providers are an equally important part of the puzzle that are often overlooked and understanding our viewpoint is crucial to the solution,” said Byre
Christine Collins, RPh, MBA, Director of Pharmacy, Lifespan
· To mitigate the rising cost of drugs, manufacturers should be required to honor discounts if choosing to narrow the distribution, patients should be able to choose their own pharmacy, and insurers should be required to contract with hospitals.
· Competition and legislation is needed to address the rising cost of medication
· “Biosimilars are great and we want more. Unfortunately, they’re not considered generic, which is a big problem for us,” said Collins
