The Latest Research, Commentary, And News From Health Affairs
Monday, November 15, 2021
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Prescription Drug Step Therapy Protocols
A new paper on pharmaceuticals
focuses on prescription drug step therapy protocols.
In the November issue of Health Affairs, Kelly Lenahan and coauthors examined commercial health plans’ prescription drug step therapy protocols that determine patients’ eligibility for specialty drugs.
Across the ten diseases they studied, most of the commercial plans’ step therapy protocols were more stringent than the treatment guidelines adopted by national clinical organizations. Further, “different plans applied step therapy protocols with markedly different frequencies and required patients to step through different numbers of prior therapies.”
Many step therapy protocols are inconsistent with leading clinical organizations’ recommended treatment pathways. “There is a risk that if plans use these protocols primarily to reduce costs, they may compromise sound clinical decision making,” the authors caution.
Today on Health Affairs Blog, James Robinson discusses how China has patiently developed drivers of innovation in its domestic
pharmaceutical sector and now is poised to expand into global markets.
Elevating Voices: Native American Heritage Month: In a Narrative Matters essay, Terry Cross and Daryle Conquering Bear Crow called for equitable child welfare for American Indians and Alaska Natives. State and county managers “too often fail to realize that child safety can best be realized when states and tribes work together, empowering each other to fulfill their roles,” they wrote.
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Health Affairs Deputy Editor Rob Lott hosts Maninder Kahlon of theUniversity of Texas at Austin’s Dell Medical School for a conversation about the latest trends in health system transformation, with a particular focus on addressing the social determinants of health. The discussion will feature highlights from Leading To Health, Health Affairs’ ongoing project on health system transformation, and other novel approaches currently being tested by Kahlon and colleagues at Factor Health.
Date: Tuesday, November 16, 2021 Time: 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (ET) Place: Online details will be shared with registrants 24 hours in advance of the event
Health Affairs is the leading peer-reviewedjournalat the intersection of health, health care, and policy. Published monthly by Project HOPE, the journal is available in print and online. Late-breaking content is also found through healthaffairs.org, Health Affairs Today, and Health Affairs Sunday Update.
Project HOPE is a global health and humanitarian relief organization that places power in the hands of local health care workers to save lives across the globe. Project HOPE has published Health Affairs since 1981.
