CER Daily Newsfeed

Contributor: How Much? Addressing Medicines' Cost and Value

(3/23, Jonathan D. Campbell, PhD, MS, The American Journal of Managed Care) comments “...HEMA's recommendations—which are sympathetic to current HTA processes—blur the value and price steps. The assessment of a technology's value should be separate from any form of price negotiation. This conflation of value and price is where I believe HTAs overstep and potentially cause harm...The findings from the HEMA report should be interpreted as an HTA-funded effort by leading academics that takes the status quo of HTA practices as given. But it remains unclear how the HTA bodies that funded the HEMA report will use this report in their own practices. With increased government intervention in pricing, the risk of governments or other large buyers misinterpreting the HEMA report as ‘truth’ could have lasting detrimental consequences for society when it comes to future innovation and patient access.” Full

Value Viewpoint: March 20, 2026

(3/20, Kimberly Westrich, LinkedIn) comments “A new ISPOR Special Task Force report published in Value in Health discusses how value-based health care (VBHC) and health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) developed on separate tracks. The report suggests that this disconnect is slowing progress on implementation. Via a targeted literature review, interviews, and a survey, the authors found that about two-thirds of empirical VBHC studies used some HEOR methods, but those analyses were usually limited to costing, with comprehensive economic evaluations remaining rare.” Full

Advancing Research Through Access to PCORI-Funded Study Data

(3/20, PCORI Blog) comments “One way PCORI fosters scientific advances to improve clinical care and health outcomes is by publicly sharing data generated from PCORI-funded patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER). To enable the responsible use of data generated from PCORI-funded studies, PCORI established the Patient-Centered Outcomes Data Repository (PCODR) at the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research at the University of Michigan — a one-of-a-kind collection dedicated exclusively to patient-centered CER data.” Full

Drugmakers Seek Review of Intervention in HHS Rebate Pilot Suit

(3/23, Nyah Phengsitthy, Bloomberg Law) reports “Major drugmakers are asking a federal appeals court to reverse an order that denied them from intervening in a case now closed between hospitals groups and the US government over a federal drug rebate pilot program...‘The appeal is not moot because Appellants' claim on appeal is capable of repetition yet evading review,’ the drugmakers said March 20 in a response to an order to show cause. ‘Should this Court disagree, however, the appropriate course would be to vacate the district court's order denying Appellants' motions to intervene.’ ‘Unless this Court corrects the fundamental legal errors in the district court's intervention order, there is a substantial risk the district court will again deny Appellants their right to intervene,’ the companies added.” Subscription Required

Evidence-Based Medicine Vs. Clinical Judgment: A Medical Student’s Perspective

(3/20, Jay Pendyala, KevinMD.com) comments “...Evidence-based medicine is powerful precisely because it embraces uncertainty. P-values do not absolve us of responsibility; they demand interpretation. A statistically significant finding is not a moral mandate. Guidelines are hypotheses frozen in time, awaiting revision.” Full

Canada Seeks To Include Impact On Informal Caregivers In Drug Value Assessments

(3/23, Neena Brizmohun, Pink Sheet) reports “...Canada’s Drug Agency is also looking to consider the impact on productivity outcomes for both patients and informal caregivers when assessing the value of a drug.” Subscription Required