Here are four notes:
1. Respondents listed increasing pharmaceutical prices as their top area of concern, followed by drug shortages.
2. Of the respondents, 95 percent said the shortages will be a problem for at least the next three years.
3. The drug shortages increased U.S. hospital costs by an average of $230 million each year, as reported in a 2014 analysis, according to Healthcare Finance.
4. Earlier this month, the Healthcare Supply Chain Association sent two letters to Congress and the FDA asking for a process to analyze the cost-effectiveness of drugs and seek ways to speed up the approval process blockage. The process is currently blocking new generic alternatives from entering the market.
Premier’s COO Michael Alkire said, “A potential solution to rising drug costs being considered is for manufacturers to replace their fee-for-service contracts with those that reward how well their products work. Another challenge is the lack of cross-continuum clinical data, so the ability to effectively track drug performance is limited.”
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