Pharmaceutical companies know that the age of blockbuster drugs is dead. Billion-dollar drugs go off patent before generating expected returns or before a company can develop another blockbuster. A study of 150 major products from 15 drug makers between 2007 and 2013 found that 54 products lost growth in sales and 26 products lost blockbuster. Companies are struggling to stay profitable while they figure out what’s next.
Meanwhile, healthcare providers are grappling with declining reimbursements from private and public payers. U.S. healthcare utilization was up across the board in 2013, yet Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements to doctors continued to decline. In 2013, more than 200 nonprofit hospitals and health systems grew expenses faster than revenues, according to Moody’s.
The healthcare financial crisis is not limited to the United States, either. Across Europe, governments are pushing patients and providers to be more accountable for skyrocketing costs and in some cases are raising patient copays.
To get paid in the near future, providers must figure out how to deliver excellent patient outcomes that lower the cost of care. So long, sweet days of profits by volume and fee-for-service income. Drug makers need to abandon one-size-fits-all, blockbuster drug development in favor of developing more drugs for smaller patient populations and developing other lines of business.
See the attached link to the full white paper on "How to Save Healthcare: Personalize It"
