Learning Objectives:

1. Kevin Knopf, MD, VIVIO Director of Clinical Innovation is on this panel on the current state of affairs for the global and US oncology biosimilar market.
2. Identify existing and/or anticipated barriers to adoption of biosimilars from various stakeholders
   (payor, provider, c-suite, community)
3. Discuss strategies and best practice solutions to help optimize biosimilar adoption
4. Describe current and future policies or regulations impacting biosimilar ecosystem

Strategies for Overcoming Existing or Anticipated Barriers
Panel Discussion:
• Academic Health System Perspective
• Community Cancer Center Perspective
• Payer Perspective

Panelists: Kevin Knopf, MD, Kathy Oubre, MS, Desiree Otenti, MNS

CHG Healthcare and VIVIO Health Inc tackle the perfect storm of challenges when it comes to specialty pharmacy: out-of-control costs, lack of clinical evidence, and limited use of outcomes data.

Back in 2016, benefits staff at CHG Healthcare found a $174K charge in the monthly claims spend report. It wasn’t a mistake; it was the actual price for a specialty drug being used to treat a rare medical condition. Forecasting further costs without evidence of effectiveness, CHG Healthcare partnered with VIVIO Health Inc. to implement a specialty drug carve-out plan that covers both pharmacy and medical benefit drugs. Since 2017, CHG Healthcare has saved a net $4.4M through the program even with zero out-of-pocket costs for plan participants paying for specialty medications. Hear directly from Anne Hopkins, Director of Benefits and Wellness at CHG Healthcare, and Pramod John, CEO & Founder of VIVIO Health Inc., on how a focus on outcomes and individualized care can lead to savings.

Cutting Costs: CHG Healthcare Carves Out Specialty Pharmacy – Catalyst for Payment Reform (catalyze.org)

This episode of The ShiftShapers Podcast is called “Target and Tame the Drug Spend Monster” with Pramod John, Founder and CEO at VIVIO Health. They discuss the changing nature of specialty drugs as adjuvant therapies and the skyrocketing costs that come with it.

What You’ll Learn From this Episode:
03:31 Growth of specialty drugs & adjuvant therapies
06:16 TNF inhibitors, Humira biosims & AbbVie’s threat to litigate
13:25 Why do Americans pay more for specialty drugs?
19:29 Standing up against unfair pricing

Ep #317: Target and Tame the Drug Spend Monster – With Pramod John – ShiftShapers Online

In recent years, Dean Foods has been besieged by surging healthcare costs, with specialty drugs being a key cost driver. Not having expert knowledge about specialty drugs, the company, in some cases, had been unknowingly paying for the inappropriate utilization of these types of products. Rather than hoping its participation in a pharmacy benefit collective would throttle its rapidly increasing specialty spend, Dean Foods took the bull by the horns and chose to better manage and achieve higher value from this healthcare category.

CLICK to read:

http://viviohealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/VIVIO-Biosimilars-Case-Study-202008.pdf

What is causing prescription drug costs to keep rising? Come find out in this podcast in which Pramod John, the CEO of VIVIOHealth, starts talking at around 36:50 in the program.

https://www.commonwealthclub.org/events/archive/podcast/secret-behind-high-drug-costs

You may be surprised to learn some things that are contrary to what you may think are true about your doctor’s knowledge of prescriptions and the FDA’s job when it comes to approving medications.