COVID-19 has disrupted the operational schedules of health care and technology providers alike to unparalleled levels in 2020. But scratch the surface, and outcomes-oriented, value-based health care targets remains a priority – albeit competing a little harder for attention at present.

Fresenius Kabi’s decision to add radio frequency-identification (RFID) tags to 24 products used in hospital operating rooms will help the company’s hospital pharmacy customers reduce waste, increase efficiencies and facilitate tighter medication inventory control, executives told In Vivo. However, only 10% of US hospitals are currently equipped to scan and process RFID tags, despite larger adoption rates in other industry sectors. COVID-19-related revenue losses may push more hospitals to adopt automated RFID medication management systems to save time and reduce labor costs.

Value-based contracting in the US is moving toward high-cost drugs for rare disease and away from lower cost chronic treatments as payers plan for the coming pipeline of cell and gene therapies. Marketed gene therapies all have some kind of risk sharing deal in place but further progress on the most innovative payment models is hampered by regulatory and operational challenges. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has taken a first step toward addressing regulatory obstacles but there is a long way to go.

The G-BA has explained in more detail the procedures for mandating post-launch evidence generation under new legislation introduced in 2019.

As more and more states enact drug pricing transparency reporting requirements, biopharma companies should effectively manage business impacts and address reputational and competitive vulnerabilities associated with increased transparency to avoid hefty penalties for noncompliance. This changing landscape means manufacturers should not only build stronger compliance and reporting operations supported by automation, but also enhance analytics to incorporate the impacts of state regulations on pricing strategy.

Behind a popular drug discount program are pharmacy benefits managers and even drug companies themselves, raising questions about whether such businesses may yet be another player in an opaque and complicated supply chain that is facilitating higher US drug prices, even as the most prominent company in the space, GoodRx, routinely criticizes soaring list prices.