Payers Say HCEI Sharing Needs Improvement Despite 21st Cures Act Implementation

A study at the AMCP 2018 Annual Meeting surveyed payer experiences sharing health care economics information (HCEI) after passage of the 21st Century Cures Act and highlighted areas for improvement. 

Ena Begovic of Xcenda, and colleagues at the AMCP, sought to understand how recent legal and regulatory changes made in the 21st Century Cures Act impacted payers experiences with HCEI.

“In December 2016, the 21st Century Cures Act was signed into law with Section 3037 amending section 114 of the FDA Modernization Act of 1997,” they wrote.  “In January 2017, the FDA issued a draft guidance on HCEI communication. These efforts provide greater clarity regarding permitted manufacturer communications for HCEI, yet the impact remains unclear.”

In order to survey payers’ experiences, the researchers developed and deployed a 28-item questionnaire to 44 payers.  The survey questions focused on perceived HCEI-related importance, impact, communication, and any changes in the speed or quality of information sharing within the past year. The researchers then compared these results to a survey completed in 2016. Respondents included professionals working in managed care organizations, pharmacy directors, and P&T committee members.

The majority consensus was that HCEI are either somewhat or very important, with a combined 84% of respondents reporting this perception. They also found that HCEI significantly impacts decision-making, with 73% of the cohort responding that HCEI impacted formulary decisions and 80% responding that HCEI was used for 50% of decisions in the past 6 months. 

However, 80% of respondents reported that they only sometimes or rarely ever receive HCEI communications from drugmakers. 

These results were similar to the 2016 survey results, indicating that the 21st Century Cures act has yet to significantly impact payer HCEI perceptions. 

“Payers’ experiences with the communication of HCEI were comparable to those prior to legislative and regulatory updates,” the researchers concluded. “There is an opportunity for manufacturers to increase frequency and quality of HCEI communications. Payer preferences regarding what information to receive and from whom should be considered by manufacturers in order to maximize the impact of HCEI.”

—David Costill