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Morning Read: CMS report on national health spending shows big increase in drug prices, FDA pushing for better pharma quality metrics with new guidelines

CMS report on health spending points to escalating prescription drug prices as a significant factor, FDA releases draft guidance for advancing the quality and supply of medications.

TOP STORIES

A CMS report on national health spending projected that medical costs would rise an average of 5.8 percent each year for the next decade, reaching $5.4 trillion by 2024. Although the aging baby boomer population, who will incur more medical bills as they age, and the expansion of health insurance under the Affordable Care Act contributed to the cost projections, prescription drugs were a significant part of it. The report authors note that growth in prescription drug spending rose dramatically from 2.5 percent in 2013 to 12.6 percent last year.

Sean Keehan, an economist for CMS and the paper’s lead author, said that despite the increase in drug prices so far, he conceded that it’s challenging to factor those costs into future projections:

“It’s very difficult to try to project which drugs will be approved and how much their impact on spending will be. It’s the largest area of uncertainty.” — Forbes

The FDA has taken a step in advancing the quality and supply of medications with the release of draft guidance for the pharmaceutical industry called, “Request for Quality Metrics.”

We believe a careful analysis of quality metrics can help FDA better identify which facilities are at the highest risk for quality problems. This will help us use our inspection resources most efficiently and effectively.

FDAVoice

LIFE SCIENCES

NantKWest had the dubious distinction of having the biggest IPO valuation for a biotech with no approved drugs. Its IPO yesterday valued the company at $2.6 billion. — The Wall Street Journal

In an effort to combat antibiotic resistant pathogens, Wayne State University School of Medicine researchers are leading a landmark multi-center, international study that will provide essential information to clinicians for use of polymoxin B in critically ill patients where no other treatments will work. This development comes with the help of a $4.9 million, five year grant from the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health.

Medical News Today

Medtronic CEO Omar Ishrak has now received a nearly 80 percent increase in compensation, part of which came from the inversion deal between Medtronic and Covidien.  Star Tribune

Baebies, a diagnostics developer aiming to make neonatal screening easier and more widely accessible, has raised $13 million in equity financing to support its development and to test its technology. Xconomy

PAYERS-PROVIDERS

A clinical trial at Albert Einstein Medical School of 941 diabetes patients living in South Bronx showed that phone calls can have a significant impact on A1c levels. The calls by non clinical individuals conveyed the importance and rationale for adhering to medication regimens, maintaining good nutrition and exercising. For participants with extremely elevated A1c levels, those who received telephone intervention (completing an average of 6.3 calls), saw a decrease in their A1c levels by an average of 2.1 percentage points (from 11.3 percent to 9.2 percent—an 18.6 percent reduction) — Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University

Emory University Hospital has named Dr. Bryce Gartland its new CEO. Gartland is currently chief operating officer of the hospital, and he will take over for Robert Bachman. Atlanta Business Chronicle

How can hospitals improve the way they respond to patient queries for an electronic version of their medical records? HIStalk has some ideas. — HIStalk

TECH

Nike and Apple have agreed to settle a class action lawsuit that claimed the companies made misleading statements about the Nike+ FuelBand’s ability to track calories, steps and NikeFuel.

Nike and Apple deny these allegations, but according to the settlement, in order to avoid further inconvenience and distraction of continued litigation, the companies have agreed to settle. Mobile Health News

UMass Memorial Health Care in Worcester, Mass., has announced plans to adopt Epic’s EHR platform, a project which is slated to cost $700 million over the next 10 years.  The Boston Globe

POLITICS

A third Planned Parenthood video has been released to the public by the conservative group Center for Medical Progress. This time, it’s more graphic.

Politico

A LITTLE BIT EXTRA

Facebook, which is still primarily run by white males, announced that it will be sharing the training on diversity it provides to its employees with the outside world in order to help others manage unconscious bias.

Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg wrote: “One of the most important things we can do to promote diversity in the workplace is to correct for the unconscious bias that all of us have…and organizations which consider themselves highly meritocratic can actually show more bias.”  VentureBeat

Photo: Flickr user Tanya

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