The Compass
Let’s go on a walk together
The Compass is the place for us to share our thoughts and opinions about market access, health economics, and policy issues.
Featured
BluePath Solutions Acquires Qualia Bio, LLC
BluePath’s initial acquisition expands its product and service offerings in the biopharmaceutical commercialization services sector. BluePath Solutions, a Los Angeles based health economics and value communication consulting firm announced today that it has acquired Qualia Bio, LLC. Qualia Bio is a specialty healthcare consulting firm with a focus on healthcare policy, market access, and reimbursement. […]
Out-of-pocket cost by cancer stage at diagnosis in commercially insured patients in the United States
Patients diagnosed with cancer may face significant financial toxicity, specifically out-of-pocket (OOP) costs related to medical care. Diagnosis and treatment of cancer at earlier stages may reduce this burden. To better understand the potential impact of earlier diagnosis on patient OOP, our colleagues recently published an analysis using integrated claims-clinical data to estimate OOP costs […]
Post-infusion Costs Associated with Idecabtagene Vicleucel Treatment for Patients with Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma in the KarMMa Trial
In a recently published microcosting analysis using trial healthcare resource utilization data, our colleagues estimated post-infusion costs with the chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy, idecabtagene vicleucel (ide-cel), for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma patients over a 2-year period. Findings suggest most costs were incurred in the initial treatment period of the first month post-infusion and […]
Estimating the Lifetime Medical Cost Burden of an Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Patient
Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) has the potential for curative outcomes in a variety of hematologic malignancies but are often associated with adverse events, specifically chronic graft versus host disease (GVHD) that results in significant financial toxicity for the payer, provider and patient. Despite several economic evaluations, there is limited evidence on the lifetime burden […]
Time duration and health care resource use during cancer diagnoses in the United States: A large claims database analysis
Our colleagues recently participated in one of the first large-scale claims analyses to date on estimating the time to diagnosis across a range of cancer types. The recent article, published in the Journal of Managed Care Pharmacy (JMCP), found that almost 16% of patients newly diagnosed with cancer waited longer than 6 months to receive […]
Systematic Review of Signs and Symptoms Associated with HSCT-TMA
Our colleagues recently participated in the first systematic literature review and meta-analysis on the signs and symptoms associated with hematopoietic stem cell transplant-associated thrombotic microangiopathy (HSCT-TMA). The recent open access publication published in Transplantation and Cellular Therapy provides a robust synthesis of currently available evidence. The findings will improve our understanding of HSCT-TMA, a complex […]
A Model to Estimate Cytokine Release Syndrome and Neurological Event Management Costs Associated With CAR T-Cell Therapy
With the marketplace flush with Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies to treat relapsed/refractory large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL), one of the key clinical and economic differentiators may be the risk of cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and neurological events (NE). Our recent publication aimed to focus solely on this key feature of treatment with the aim […]
Real-world assessment: effectiveness and safety of extended-release calcifediol and other vitamin D therapies for secondary hyperparathyroidism in CKD patients
A recent publication by our colleagues uses real world data to demonstrate the real world effectiveness of a recently approved therapy while maintaining safe outcomes. Extended-release calcifediol (ERC), active vitamin D hormones and analogs (AVD) and nutritional vitamin D (NVD) are commonly used therapies for treating secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT) in adults with stage 3–4 chronic […]
Breast, Colorectal, Lung, Prostate, and Cervical Cancer Screening Prevalence in a Large Commercial and Medicare Advantage Plan, 2008–2020
Our colleagues recently published a large-scale analysis to comprehensively assess breast, colorectal, cervical, lung, and prostate cancer screening rates and trends in the US over time among individuals for whom screening is recommended by the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). Cancer screening rates remain suboptimal and efforts to increase uptake seemed stalled. Future […]
Medicare Part D Direct & Indirect Remuneration
Payers who offer Medicare Part D plans may receive additional compensation after the point-of-sale. These funds are known as Direct & Indirect Remuneration (DIR), and account for growing levels of disparity between Part D gross and net drug costs. As DIR is primarily composed of manufacturer rebates on select drugs, the way rebates are allocated [...]
