A bundled payment program run by San Francisco-based digital health company Carrum Health resulted in an average per-episode savings of more than $16,000 per orthopedic or surgical procedure, a recent RAND Corp. analysis found.

Counting both procedures reimbursed under the bundled payment program and procedures reimbursed outside the program, per-episode costs for the three procedures studied — spinal fusion, major joint replacement and bariatric surgery — were 10.7% lower overall, on average, than costs for comparable procedures prior to implementation of the program. That added up to a total savings of $4,229 per episode, the study found.

Health care organizations, eager for innovative ways to engage members in the midst of the pandemic, ramped up their use of email and texts in 2020 and found they were highly effective at prompting consumer action, a recent survey on health care consumer engagement found.

The survey, conducted annually for the past five years by consulting and research firm Engagys, found when it polled around 100 health care entities in November that 2020 had been a "breakout year" for use of more efficient digital channels and personalized messages, Kathleen Ellmore, the firm's co-founder and managing director, tells AIS Health.

Treatment for heart failure still relies significantly on tried-and-true generic drugs, but new brand-name entrants — including Novartis' Entresto (sacubitril/valsartan) and Amgen's Corlanor (ivabradine) — are important additions to prescribers' clinical arsenals against the high-mortality condition, industry insiders tell AIS Health.

"Generic heart failure drugs, including beta blockers, ACE inhibitors, and ARBs [angiotension receptor blockers] have historically been used and continue to be the backbone of therapy," says April Kunze, Pharm.D., senior director of clinical program development for Prime Therapeutics. "However, in the past few years, additional treatment options have become available. Entresto is now recommended as a first-line treatment option in patients with an ejection fraction <= 40%."

Pharmaceutical treatment for different types of epilepsy generally still relies on tried-and-true generics, despite recent efforts by drug manufacturers to introduce new branded medications into the mix, PBM insiders tell AIS Health.

Xcopri (cenobamate tablets), manufactured by SK Biopharmaceuticals Co., Ltd.'s subsidiary SK Life Science, Inc., launched in May for the treatment of partial-onset seizures. However, many plans haven't jumped to add Xcopri to their formularies, says Mesfin Tegenu, R.Ph., president of PerformRx.

A pilot telemedicine program dramatically reduced the amount of time it took for primary care physicians to consult with dermatologists on skin ailments but did not increase utilization or cost, according to a new study from Independence Blue Cross and the University of Pennsylvania, AIS Health reported.

"Dermatology is an ideal specialty for telemedicine due to the visual nature of the clinical assessment," says study co-author Aaron Smith-McLallen, director of health informatics and advanced analytics at Independence Blue Cross. "Using telemedicine, patients can get quality care very quickly and reduce wait times for patients with more acute needs that are not suitable for telemedicine intervention."

Large insurer-affiliated PBMs saw strong results for the third quarter of 2020, in several cases driving revenues for parent companies that are grappling with various disruptive effects of the coronavirus pandemic, AIS Health reported.

At CVS Health Corp., which reported earnings on Nov. 6, total revenues increased 3.5% year over year to $67 billion, and the company posted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.66, beating analysts' estimates.

CVS Health Corp.'s Caremark will exclude 57 medications from its 2021 formulary and add six back. Meanwhile, UnitedHealth Group’s OptumRx subsidiary will exclude 19 medications and products while adding back five and implementing restrictions on others, AIS Health reported.

Still, only a handful of products excluded by either PBM are likely to impact many members adversely, says Marc Guieb, a pharmacist and consultant with Milliman Inc. That also applies to the exclusions announced earlier by Cigna Corp.-owned PBM Express Scripts, he adds.