Drug Pricing

When a 34-year-old patient being treated for stage IV colorectal cancer at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, in Nashville, Tennessee, was notified that his medication was no longer covered by his insurer, he contacted Vanderbilt Specialty Pharmacy. Pharmacists there immediately submitted a prior authorization that was denied, and they were told there was no appeal option.

The role of the pharmacist, managed care pharmacist job satisfaction and artificial intelligence were among the topics that Susan A. Cantrell, CEO of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy, discussed with Perry Cohen, Pharm.D., in this episode of "Conversations with Perry and Friends."

Welcome to the latest update from Professional Affairs! This fall has been packed with major developments—from the release of Maximum Fair Prices for Medicare drugs to continued government focus of pharmacy benefit managers and much more.

Welcome to the first Professional Affairs blog! We plan on sharing a periodic post to recap some of the major news, journal articles, reports, and other publications from around the web that have come out since our last post. As this is our first blog, we’ll try to adequately cover the whirlwind that was July and early August 2024.

The FDA continues to approve novel therapies, but concerns arise due to the costs of certain treatments. To address this, the AMCP organized a forum to explore solutions. Stakeholders recognize the benefits of high-investment medications, but uptake of payment strategies has been slow. Gradual changes, education, and collaboration are essential to improve predictability, affordability, and accessibility for patients.