Two of the nation’s leading health organizations, health and well-being company Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) and biotechnology company Amgen, have teamed up to identify opportunities to improve health outcomes and improve efficiency by unlocking new insights from the real world health care experiences of Humana’s 13 million members.
In the collaboration agreement between Amgen and Humana, six projects are currently underway or planned, with more expected over the term of the agreement. Both organizations are committed to expanding the work into further therapeutic areas where the partnership can bring value to both Amgen and Humana. The goal is the same across all projects: deliver increased value to patients and the health care system by focusing on working to improve quality and outcomes in the context of total health care costs.
The collaboration will initially target multiple serious conditions, including cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, neurologic disorders, inflammatory diseases and cancer. Researchers will combine available sources of real world evidence (RWE) with data from wearable technology, digital apps and Bluetooth-enabled drug delivery devices. Prospective observational studies are also planned.
Planned research will identify patients whose serious medical conditions are likely to result in an adverse patient outcome, which may lead to development of algorithms that can predict risk and drive to early intervention. The partnership will also dive deeply into specific therapeutic areas, from defining the burden of osteoporatic fractures to understanding the impact of wearable technology on medication adherence for inflammatory diseases.
“The rising cost of disease is challenging the sustainability of our health care system in the U.S., and is motivating innovators to urgently develop new therapeutic options and partner on opportunities to improve the quality and efficiency of care and reduce financial burden to the system,” said Joshua Ofman, M.D., M.S.H.S., senior vice president of Global Value, Access & Policy at Amgen. “It is our hope that this collaboration with Humana, a first of its kind for Amgen, will cultivate value-based, integrated approaches to care that will focus on patients and benefit the healthcare system more broadly.”
“Humana is focused on the holistic health of our members and by teaming up with Amgen we can study new ways to improve the health outcomes for our members,” said Laura Happe, Pharm.D. M.P.H., chief pharmacy officer for Humana. “At the same time, we hope this research results in new tools and technology that support our provider partners who are on the journey to population health and value-based care.”
Amgen and Humana have proven experience in value-based initiatives. Globally, Amgen has engaged in more than 75 distinct value-based programs that have focused on improving clinical outcomes, patient experience and population health.
As of June 30, 2017, Humana has 1.8 million individual Medicare Advantage members and 142,000 commercial members who are cared for by 50,700 primary care providers, in more than 900 value-based relationships across 43 states and Puerto Rico. By focusing on quality and health, Humana experienced 20 percent lower costs in total in 2015 for members who were treated by providers in a value-based reimbursement model setting versus an estimation of original fee-for-service Medicare costs using CMS Limited Data Set Files.
