New PQRI Melanoma Measures

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is seeking voluntary submission of data on 11 new measures under the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI), including three new measures related to melanoma. The measures have been adopted by the AQA Alliance, and have CPT II codes that allow claims-based reporting, according to the CMS. Data submission started July 1. Reporting is voluntary; there is no bonus available for these new measures yet. For melanoma, physicians are asked to report on follow-up care given to patients with a new diagnosis; on whether those with an existing diagnosis are called back for a complete exam within a year; and whether a treatment plan is developed for a new melanoma occurrence and communicated to a treating physician within a month. Also new are three ophthalmic measures, two radiology measures, one oncology measure, a measure assessing influenza vaccination for kidney disease patients, and a measure on whether arthritis patients are assessed for use of over-the-counter medications.

Allergan Seeks Eyelash Drug OK

Allergan Inc. reported early last month that it is seeking Food and Drug Administration approval for its drug bimatoprost, to stimulate eyelash growth. Bimatoprost is the active ingredient in Lumigan, the company's glaucoma drug and a synthetic prostaglandin analog. The company said it expects FDA approval some time in 2009, and sales of the eyelash-lengthening product to reach at least $500 million a year. That would put it on par with Lumigan, which will have an estimated $450 million in sales in 2008. Allergan said the mascara market produces about $4 billion a year. The company had not previously disclosed it was developing an eyelash lengthener, but was not shy about suing companies it said infringed on the bimatoprost patent in November. A month later, the FDA seized thousands of tubes of an eyelash-lengthener made by Jan Marini Skin Research. That company stopped selling its eyelash products in January.

FDA Accepts Reloxin Application

Medicis and Ipsen announced that the FDA has accepted their application for approval of Reloxin (type A botulinum toxin). Reloxin is already approved in 23 countries, and Ipsen is seeking approval in additional markets. Medicis is paying Ipsen $25 million for achieving the FDA acceptance, and will pay an additional $75 million when the drug is approved. Medicis will market Reloxin in the United States.

MDs Mum on Trial Participation

Nearly 95% of Americans in a recent survey said that their physicians have never spoken to them about participating in a medical research study. The survey results, released by the Society for Women's Health Research, also found that less than 10% of respondents had ever participated in such a study. Women were less likely than were men to know that research opportunities were available. About 73% of women were aware of research opportunities, compared with 83% of men who were surveyed. Women were also more likely to say that they were too old or too sick to participate in research, according to the study. For example, 7.2% of women said that their age made them hesitant to participate in clinical research, compared with 2.4% of men. "Women 65 and older are among the fastest growing segments of our population, and we have very little health research data on them," Sherry Marts, Ph.D., vice president of scientific affairs for the Society for Women's Health Research, said in a statement. The telephone survey included responses from 2,028 U.S. adults.

Report Casts Doubt on IT Savings

Health information technology, when coupled with other reforms, can help reduce health spending in certain settings, according to a report from the Congressional Budget Office. However, the adoption of health IT alone will not produce significant savings, the report concluded. For example, institutions that have successfully used health IT to lower costs are generally integrated health care systems such as Kaiser Permanente. "Office-based physicians in particular may see no benefit if they purchase [an electronic health record]and may even suffer financial harm," the CBO report said. Recent studies by the Rand Corporation and the Center for Information Technology Leadership estimate savings from health IT at around $80 billion annually. However, the CBO takes issue with those estimates because the savings figures are derived by assuming a number of changes to the health care system. However, without changes to the current payment system, providers would not be incentivized to reduce costs to the system. CBO analysts also found that a subsidy to providers could increase adoption but would be costly to the government. On the other hand, a mandate for adoption or a penalty for lack of adoption would be effective but costly for providers. The full report is available online at

www.cbo.gov

Consumer Reports to Grade Hospitals

Consumer Reports has begun grading hospitals and plans to eventually add ratings for other health care providers. The ratings, which include nearly 3,000 hospitals, are available at

www.consumerreportshealth.org

Policy & Practice