Big Topics in Small Doses Episode 6: Prescription Drug Market
Creating an Accessible, Affordable Prescription Drug Market
Hello everyone. Thanks for joining us for another special edition episode of Healthy Dose of Dialogue podcast. In this episode, we talk about the prescription drug market and the innovative approaches several companies are using to make inroads in drug affordability, accessibility, and effectiveness.
Anyone familiar with the prescription drug market knows its skyrocketing costs can hinder patients’ access to quality medicine and break their budget, even if they have insurance. A recent study from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists reported that US residents spend more than $577 billion on drugs per year — and that figure is only rising.
Making matters worse, US pharmaceuticals are mired in hidden price markups and drastically overpriced compared to other nations. Data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) shows that US hospitals are marking up medicine, on average, by 500 percent. And in contrast to the rest of world, a RAND Corporation analysis confirmed US drug prices are 256 percent more expensive.
These alarming facts have driven entrepreneurs, insurers, and employers to seek innovative solutions to this national crisis. Gina Guinasso, president of the pharmaceutical startup CivicaScript, is one of these change makers. She and her team are working to lower drug prices while also increasing price transparency.
“There is a really a big lack of transparency in what drugs cost and what people pay for them and what companies pay for them. So what we're doing very differently is we have one direct price for everyone. It is public, it is known, and that one direct price is what everyone pays.”
Lowering prescription drug prices is also about uncovering which drugs are effective and which aren’t. Hank Schlissberg, CEO of the pharmaceutical data analytics startup Evio, has partnered with five health insurers across the country to analyze drug performance and negotiate outcome-based pricing. He says this evidence-based approach helps patients and insurers pay less on ineffective drugs and choose affordable suppliers and manufacturers.
“The vision that Evio has that guides everything we do, every activity we take, and every product, so to speak, that we build, is to help ensure that every patient gets the right drug for their unique situation in a simple and affordable way.”
Another tactic to cutting drug costs is to lower demand. Where it applies, health startups are developing alternative treatments to reduce or eliminate drug usage. Startups are doing this through diet recommendations, like Virta Health, using food as medicine to fight illnesses like Type-2 diabetes and also through digital therapies like the “digiceutical” company Healium.
It’s CEO Sarah Hill said her company — that uses wearable devices and virtual reality to alleviate anxiety — has helped patients to minimize or erase drug usage.
“What we've developed are drugless, non-harmful, coping mechanisms that can allow you to teach yourself to learn to self-regulate your brain patterns and heart rate — which is really that mental health armor.”
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