Simplifying drug labels
By David Woods (david.woods@rxcomms.com) The Institute of Medicine, which made headlines some years ago when it estimated that medical mistakes kill as many as 98,000 patients a year, followed up…
Presenteeism and the impact of appropriate pharmaceutical treatment on workplace costs
By David Woods (david.woods@rxcomms.com) Question: “How many people work in the public sector?” Answer: “About half of them.” It’s an old one, to be sure, but it has its echo…
ASHE revisited
By Amy Rothman Schonfeld (amy.schonfeld@rxcomms.com) One year after its first conference, the American Society of Health Economists (ASHE) is clearly thriving. Its membership has grown to more than 800, planning…
HOC people: Alan Bakst
By David Woods (dwoods@rxcomms.com) “An opportunity and a challenge”. That’s what Alan Bakst found when he became Director of Health Economics and Outcomes Research at TAP pharmaceuticals in Chicago in…
WHC and ISMMP congresses
By David Woods (dwoods@rxcomms.com) HOC editor David Woods has just returned from attending two healthcare congresses. Fourth Annual World Health Care Congress (WHC), Washington, DC, 22–24 April A panel on…
Industry commentary – Predictors of productivity
By Clare Gurton (cgurton@rxcomms.com) There is increasing pressure to describe the benefits of new treatments in terms of increased productivity in the work-place, and many clinical studies are now attempting…
Risk/benefit decisions – who should be involved, and are there valid measurement methods?
By Clare Gurton (cgurton@rxcomms.com) Here we summarise a recent article from ISPOR Connections 2006; December 15: 3–5 Patients are generally not included in decision-making yet they are the group to…
Industry commentary – Compulsory licences in Thailand override international patents
Merck has slashed the price of anti-HIV drug Efavirenz in Thailand, two months after Thailand announced a compulsory licence to manufacture a generic version.
Profile: Health policy academics Jennifer Lofland and Laura Pizzi
Drs Lofland and Pizzi are members of Jefferson Medical College’s Department of Health Policy where both are associate professors.
4th Annual World Health Care Congress
HOC will be attending and reporting on the 4th Annual World Health Care Congress, 22–24 April. Billed as “the must-attend event for healthcare, government and corporate leaders to formulate solutions…