Why innovation and financial sustainability don't have to compete

Balancing innovation and financial sustainability are not competing priorities but interdependent ones, according to David Chen, Pharm.D., executive director of Formulary and Drug Use Management at Kaiser Permanente. Through a clinician-led, rigorous review of materials and evidence, aligning contracting strategies around preferred therapies that deliver improved outcomes allows for financial stability while also creating space for innovation. The savings generated represent total value that flows back into the system, funding improvements across the business, including new innovations. When approached this way, financial sustainability and innovation reinforce each other rather than work against each other.