NPC Updates
- March/April, 2003
This Issue:
- New Resources from NPC
- Improving Awareness and Management of Chronic Conditions Through
Advertising
New Resources from NPC
- CD-ROM:
Prescription Medicines: Returning Value to Patients, Payers and Society
Studies confirm that indeed, medicines are one of the fastest growing
areas of health care spending. While few can imagine life without
the life improving medicines that patients with diabetes, heart disease,
cancer, HIV/AIDS, and many others have come to depend on, some have
questioned the value of that spending - to the health care system overall
and to consumers. In this compilation of materials-much of it
peer-reviewed research - we address some of the critical questions in
this debate.
- Consumer Reports
on the Health Effects of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Prescription
Drugs, Health Affairs Web Exclusive, February 2003
This paper reports the results of a study of the health behaviors and
outcomes that result when patients initiate discussions with their doctors
as a result of seeing a prescription drug ad. Consumers reported
the DTCA-motivated discussions with physicians frequently result in
new diagnosis for clinically important conditions, and the survey found
no evidence to support concerns about adverse health consequences.
- The Public Health
Impact of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Prescription Drugs (Report
to Funders), February 2003
This report contains more detailed findings from the research cited
above and includes survey questionnaire.
- The Health and Productivity
Cost Burden of the "Top 10" Physical and Mental Health Conditions
Affecting Six Large U.S. Employers, reprinted from Journal of Occupational
and Environmental Medicine, January 2003
This article identifies the top 10 most costly physical and mental health
conditions faced by six large employers in their health benefits programs.
The research identifies costs associated with each condition including
direct medical costs and indirect costs associated with days absent
from the job and short-term disability costs.
- An Overview of
Two Monographs on Pain Management, 2003
In 2001, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations
and the National Pharmaceutical Council began a collaborative effort
to facilitate improvements in pain management. To date, this effort
has produced a set of monographs intended for those involved in pain
management activities, including clinicians, quality management professionals,
and others involved in pain management performance, assessment, improvement,
education, and policy making. The first monograph, titled "Pain:
Current Understanding of Assessment, Management, and Treatments,"
was published in December 2001. The second monograph, titled "Improving
the Quality of Pain Management Through Measurement and Action,"
was published in March 2003 (see below).
- Improving
the Quality of Pain Management Through Measurement and Action, 2003
This monograph addresses the application of continuous quality improvement
techniques to pain management and the implementation of performance
measurement processes. The use of multidisciplinary systems point
of view is described and the Cycle for Improving Performance, a structured
approach to improvement activities, is outlined. Factors that
influence an organization's ability to implement change and improve
performance are also discussed. In addition, the real-world experience
of four organizations in improving pain management is described.
The examples provided encompass a diversity of settings and experience
and suggest strategies for overcoming obstacles to pain management improvement
initiatives.
- Costs
and Benefits of Pharmaceuticals: The Value Equation for Older Americans,
by Richard Levy, Ph.D. reprinted from Care Management Journals, Vol.
3, No. 3, Spring 2002
Benefits from new pharmaceuticals far outweigh their costs for many
key diseases of the elderly. Even incremental improvements in
drug therapies contribute substantially to improved care. Chronic
illness, disability, and an aging population will drive future health
care spending. Pharmaceutical innovation will be an integral part
of effective strategies to address this challenge.
- Growth in
Use of Lipid-Lowering Therapies: Are We Targeting the Right Patients?
Reprinted from American Journal of Managed Care, October 2002
This article looks at the appropriateness of statin use in 1997 (pre-DTCA
guidance) and in 1999 (post-DTCA guidance). The conclusion is that although
the number of people being treated with statins rose considerably from
1997 to 1999, there did not appear to be any shift towards less appropriate
treatment.
Improving Awareness and Management of Chronic Conditions Through
Advertising:
The advertising of prescription drugs has received much criticism, yet
there is scant research on the health effects, positive or negative, that
may result from such advertising. Surveys by the FDA, Prevention magazine,
and others consider only indirect effects of direct-to-consumer advertising
(DTCA) on health by examining consumer understanding of advertisements
and the effect on patient-doctor interactions. From these surveys it is
known that most Americans are aware of DTCA, and that a large minority
are having discussions about advertised drugs with physicians. However,
past investigations have not extensively explored the actions that result
from discussions about DTCA between doctors and patients, and the impact,
if any, on health outcomes.
In 2002, researchers at Harvard University and Harris Interactive addressed
these questions. Results of this research were published as a Web exclusive
by the journal Health Affairs and supplemented by a Report to Funders
(see "New Resources from NPC" above). The researchers found
that among the 86 percent of respondents who saw or heard an ad in the
last year, 20 percent improved their diets and 18 percent became better
at taking their drugs, mostly or partly due to DTCA. About one-third of
all respondents were prompted by DTCA to have a discussion about their
health during a visit with a doctor. Twenty percent of patients received
a new diagnosis as a result of their visit. Approximately 36 percent of
new diagnoses and 50 percent of existing conditions were considered high
priority (arthritis, hypertension, depression, and others). Among patients
who received a prescription and took it as prescribed, about four out
of five reported feeling better after taking the drug, and a similar proportion
reported that symptoms improved and that results of lab tests showed a
change for the better.
This study demonstrates the positive medical and health effects of DTCA.
Many adults are motivated to engage in healthy behaviors as a result of
ads they have seen. Advertisements also help motivate patients to discuss
personal health problems and issues with their physician. Many patients
who discuss health concerns with their physicians as a result of drug
ads that they saw or heard in the media perceive positive health effects
to occur from the visit and few report adverse health consequences from
taking DTCA drugs. These effects on health and healthcare should be considered
in future debates about the overall impact of DTCA.
To order any of these publications in hard copy (free of charge), please
go to our order form or call
(703) 620-6390.
Since 1953, NPC has sponsored and conducted scientific, evidence-based
analyses of the appropriate use of pharmaceuticals and the clinical and
economic value of pharmaceutical innovation. NPC provides educational
resources to a variety of health care stakeholders, including patients,
clinicians, payers and policy makers. More than 20 research-based pharmaceutical
companies are members of the NPC.
We encourage you to pass this message on to colleagues who may find this
information useful. To subscribe please click
here. To unsubscribe, please send an email to
main@npcnow.com with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject
line. |
