Gimme Data: Oncologists Gear Up To Track Drugs Costs & Outcomes

As added emphasis is placed on achieving improved outcomes and lowering health care costs, especially for such widespread and expensive ailments as cancer, more healthcare providers can, of course, be expected to crunch numbers. Yet a new survey finds that only 37 percent of oncology providers – primarily, large group practices and hospitals - have sufficient system data reporting capabilities. To be specific, one third lack the proficiency to aggregate or analyze data, and 47 percent are unable to share data within their organization. Overall, just 11 percent have advanced data capabilities, but this is expected to jump to 40 percent in just two years. And this rapid uptake has implications for drugmakers, because oncology providers can be expected to use data to further assess both clinical outcomes and costs. “It’s a pretty significant projected increase, because it means that the pharmaceutical industry will soon face much more scrutiny in the trenches,” according to Rhonda Greenapple, who heads Reimbursement Intelligence, a market research and consulting firm that, along with the Cancer Business Center Summit, queried 50 oncology providers, including oncologists, hospital directors and data administrators. How so? The type of data that is currently the highest economic priority is drug cost. About 67 percent say the cost of chemotherapy drugs is their most important data point, followed by 65 percent who cite total drug cost, 48 percent who point to the patient s...
Source: Pharmalot - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs