Many experts say AdvaMed's warnings are unjustified because insurers and providers participating in population-health payment and delivery models have no incentive to turn away medical products that improve patient outcomes and reduce future costs.
If a new intervention is proven to lead to better clinical outcomes, that option will be explored, said Susan DeVore, CEO of Premier, a group purchasing and quality- improvement company.
She urged devicemakers to do more to advance value-based care. “Bring your evidence and data, and bring a willingness to collaborate and take risks,” she said.
Hillary Rodham Clinton, who spoke at the conference, also chided devicemakers, albeit diplomatically. “Your industry is bearing some of the burden alongside other stakeholders,” Clinton said. “But you're also ... positioned to reap the benefits of those millions of newly insured consumers. ... My view is that we need to keep working towards win-win solutions.”
This is not the first time that the medical-device industry has raised sharp questions about the impact of new payment models on medical innovation and product adoption. AdvaMed's 2011 comment letter on the Medicare Shared Savings Program to test the accountable care model, which offers providers financial incentives for meeting cost and quality targets, recommended that the CMS make adjustments to ensure that providers are not penalized for being early adopters of new technology.
Despite AdvaMed's warnings, a number of manufacturers, including Medtronic and St. Jude Medical, have shifted their product development and marketing strategies and made acquisitions to add products they say will help providers in the new value-based environment.
“The bottom line is that the device manufacturers have to be able to show their products and new technologies will add value to their customers,” said Diana Lee, an analyst for Moody's Investors Service.
Purchasers fear the message isn't being heard. “There is concern about protecting the goose that is laying the golden egg,” said Blair Childs, Premier's senior vice president of public affairs.
Follow Jaimy Lee on Twitter: @MHjleeFollow Sabriya Rice on Twitter: @sabriyarice