The Significance of Trust in the Drug Development, Marketing Process

Payers and providers, often depicted as rivals, are on the same side when it comes to the 340B program that allows some hospitals to buy drugs at steep discounts, according to Milliman experts.

In this month’s episode of the "What's On Your Mind podcast," Peter Wehrwein, managing editor of MHE connects with the now Chief Clinical Officer of OptumRx Integrated Pharmacies, David Calabrese. In this conversation, David touches on his transition in January as OptumRx’s former chief pharmacy officer and market president of health plans and PBMs to his new role as Chief Clinical Officer where he now focuses more on things such as specialty pharmacy to home delivery — with an overall goal of creating whole-patient care. Throughout the conversation, Calabrese also touched on the market’s hot topic of insulin prices and behavioral health services within the OptumRx community, among other topics.

The actor expressed some regret as well as gratitude in talking about the death of his 33-year-old son from a rare form of sarcoma.

Healthcare hasn't been a priority of the second Trump administration so far, panelists at the Asembia agreed. Medicaid may loom large, though, as the administration and congressional Republicans look for ways to slash government spending as a way of offsetting major tax cuts.

The margins are small, and the services they provide must be “high touch.” 340B participation and cost-plus pricing are floated as tactics the pharmacies might use to improve their economics.

This new, first-line biologic treatment provided symptom relief for patients for up to one year.