PBGH in the News

PBGH’s ground-breaking work to identify and remove wasteful drugs from formularies of large self-insured employers is now published and available here. Self-insured employers can save 3-24% of total PBM spend by addressing non-controversial small molecule drugs that waste money for employees and the plan.

PBGH’s Associate Director of the Employers Centers of Excellence Network (ECEN), Olivia Ross, is interviewed in this Relentless Health Value podcast. Listen in to hear Olivia discuss the critical importance of guarding AGAINST unnecessary surgeries.

PBGH, L.A. Care Health Plan, and the Southwest Pediatric Practice Transformation Network, with CMS funding, have improved outcomes for 750,000 Californians and saved $345M in healthcare costs ($6 saved for every $1 in CMS funding invested).

Watch this interview with Lauren Vela, Senior Director of Member Value, on the American Journal of Managed Care's website.

A Never Event is a medical error that should never happen, but they still do.  The Leapfrog Group asks hospitals to take a proactive stance on managing them.  Learn more

Elizabeth Mitchell sent a letter to the Senate HELP Committee on Tuesday, following her influential testimony at the Committee’s hearing on June 18. 

Read and listen to PBGH President and CEO Elizabeth Mitchell’s testimony before the U.S. Senate HELP Committee on June 18th and hear her share how care should and can be high quality and affordable.

PBGH President & CEO Elizabeth Mitchell is quoted in this Kaiser Health News article on surpirse medical billing.

Lauren Vela is quoted in Modern Healthcare about low-value care. Please thank your Cigna (and now Aetna) plans for taking a stand against low-value Vitamin D screening; however there is plenty more waste to address. The article showcases the value of all-payer-claims-databases to identify and address opportunities, and describes the grant-funded Virginia project to reduce waste (PBGH is a sub-contractor on the grant and is seeking interested employers with employees in Virginia to participate on an employer task force).

PBGH’s partners on the waste free formulary part II project (Johns Hopkins University) penned this excellent article about PBM contracting. The Lower Healthcare Cost Act, to which PBGH contributed, holds promise for “fixing” a broken PBM business model.