Cutting costs will be the “overarching theme” for the healthcare industry in 2010, according to a report from Price-waterhouseCoopers LLC’s Health Research Institute.
The institute examined what it called the top 10 pressing issues for healthcare executives and policy makers.
“Intense effort to reduce healthcare costs” was at the top of the list.
“No stone will be left unturned,” the institute said. “Hospitals, physicians and other providers will look to squeeze every penny out of their operations and supply chains.”
The institute said it expects providers to renegotiate purchasing deals and contracts with their suppliers on everything from food services to medical devices and drugs.
Businesses that provide healthcare are expected to increase audits of their workers’ dependents, “to weed out those who are no longer eligible for coverage.”
Cost-cutting is followed by what the institute calls the “aftermath of health reform” at the No. 2 spot for concern.
The institute said that healthcare organizations will be busy this year absorbing “the potential first waves” of regulatory changes, such as insurance market and payment reforms, reimbursement and pricing pressures, tax changes and the overall implications of increased coverage and consumer demands.
Coming in at No. 3 on the list is government using rewards and penalties to accelerate specific changes in healthcare: The institute called 2010 a “double-bonus year” for doctors who act quickly to take advantage of government incentives to adopt electronic medical records and electronic prescribing.
“This new carrot-and-stick model of accelerating change represents a shift in the government’s role as a ‘passive payer’ to an ‘active buyer’ of healthcare,” the institute said.
Other highlights include the technology and telecommunication sectors stepping up their presence in healthcare.
“With a huge boost from the 2009 stimulus package for broadband funding and healthcare IT expansion, technology and telecommunications companies are aggressively capturing a growing share of the healthcare business,” the institute said.
Quality Systems Inc., an Irvine maker of software that doctors and dentists use to manage their practices, has grown rapidly in recent years as doctors move to adopt medical records and other marks of “paperless offices.”
The institute also predicts that drug makers and life science companies will increase collaborations with each other, as well as retailers and other organizations to address education, clinical effectiveness, product safety, wellness and compliance.
And the institute expects more hospitals to employ doctors in 2010 because the latter are looking for greater stability, among other things.
Avanir’s Zenvia Results
Aliso Viejo-based drug developer Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc. said a third-phase clinical trial of its Zenvia drug candidate showed that it reduced the number of daily episodes of pseudobulbar affect, or fits of uncontrollable laughing or crying, in patients with Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Avanir said that the test looked at two different doses of the drug candidate and both met goals of reducing episodes of uncontrollable laughing or crying.
In a statement, Randall Kaye, Avanir’s chief medical officer, said that the drug maker’s team “is now working expeditiously to file our complete response to the FDA early in the second quarter.”
Breast Cancer Test
Agendia BV, a Dutch provider of genomic breast cancer testing with a U.S. headquarters and laboratory in Huntington Beach, said late last month that the Food and Drug Administration cleared its Mam-maPrint breast cancer test for patients of all ages.
In a statement, the company said that that decision will help broaden the market for MammaPrint, which assesses 70 genes and is designed to predict the reoccurrence of breast cancer in women who’ve been treated for the disease. It’s also been approved for Medicare reimbursement.
MammaPrint’s been approved for women of all ages in Europe since 2004. Agendia established its U.S. base in Huntington Beach earlier this year.
In addition, Agendia said that Palmetto GBA, a company that administrates Med-icare benefits for California, established reimbursement coding policy for MammaPrint.
Bits and Pieces:
Irvine’s Cornerstone Real Estate Funds and Servant Healthcare Investments said they acquired a senior living community out of bankruptcy in Nantucket, Mass., for $6 million. The facility, Sherburne Commons, was built in 2007 for $33 million … Biolase Technology Inc., an Irvine maker of dental lasers, said its Waterlase MD device received 510 (k) clearance from the FDA to remove yellow or brown buildup on teeth to prevent and treat periodontitis, a condition that affects more than half of U.S. adults 55 years or older.
