AD Hoc

MEDCITY News
January 31, 2011

We should all pay attention to our nomenclature. It’s not about “conflict of interest” — it’s about (as Secretary Sebelius correctly says) “interest.” And having an “interest” is not necessarily a bad thing — as long as you’re transparent about it...

When it comes to “transparency,” we need to weigh “interest versus benefit.” Case in point: so-called “academic detailing” (AD)...

There is little information on why so few AD programs attempt to measure overall healthcare cost reductions. This is likely due to the fact that measuring changes in prescription drug costs is a more manageable analysis than determining changes in overall healthcare spending...

 If the goal is better outcomes and lower costs — the problem isn’t the cost of pharmaceuticals. It’s the costs of non-compliance.

The New England Healthcare Institute estimates that $290 billion in healthcare expenditures could be avoided if medication adherence were improved.