Why Join the Alliance
for Better Medicine?
Increasingly, evidence-based medicine is being used as a way to lower medical costs instead of a means to improve medical care. Often this misuse of evidence based medicine principles stems from a lack of awareness by policy makers that evidence based medicine must recognize individual differences if it is to improve healthcare.
Who Should Join the
Alliance?
Patient advocates for people with chronic illnesses should
be concerned because these are the people who are most likely going to need
more extensive care. Treatment limitations based upon cost-driven “evidence” do
not only affect medication access, but they can also affect any aspect of
care and treatment (tests, procedures, devices, hospital care, etc.).
Anyone who represents an ethnic organization should join because
a one size fits all approach invariably does not take into account racial,
ethnic, age and gender differences and different biological responses to treatments and medications
as most “evidence” is based only on data of male adult
Caucasians.
Providers should be concerned because often the evidence only
exists for an older practice that had been studied for decades. The newest
and most promising practices that may cost more by themselves, but will have
the effect of avoiding other interventions that would be even more costly,
will not have sufficient evidence to justify them. Additionally, treatment
limitations based upon “evidence” can potentially remove decision
making authority from the hands of the physician.
Goal of the Alliance:
The goal of the Alliance for Better Medicine is not to oppose
efforts to utilize evidence based medicine. Actually, we strongly support the use of good evidence to guide treatment decisions. Our goal is to develop EBM in a manner
that utilizes the best information and considers an array of factors regarding the individual in
making decisions. We are opposed to short-sighted cost-cutting and simplistic
solutions that come from people outside of the health care community and
have not properly taken into account the views of those most directly affected
by these impacts--the patients--particularly those who are facing chronic
illnesses.
Our aim is to improve health outcomes for patients and consumers of healthcare by encouraging practices which focus on individualized health care.
If you are concerned about these issues you need to be a part
of the Alliance for Better Medicine.
What does the Alliance for
Better Medicine do?
Analysis: We will provide analysis in response to reports of
government agencies and other interests that are touting these studies as
a way to save money in healthcare costs whenever we believe that it really
doesn’t save money and it is simply looking at a very narrow approach
that could lead to additional costs in other aspects of healthcare that are
not accounted for.
Education: We will also hold symposia bringing together the best
experts to advance evidence based medicine and ultize all the available claims
data and other information that can be made available to insure that whatever
decisions are made utilizing the best information and not a narrow selectively
chosen bit of information that justifies a particularly narrow cost driven
approach.
Research: The Alliance for Better Medicine promotes research which recognizes that different people will respond differently to medications and treatments and which aims to determine more specifically which patients will benefit from different treatments.
Public Policy: We will strive to make sure that
in all public policy decisions affecting health care, within private health plans and other programs, that decisions are made
placing the interest of the patient first and looking at the best overall
healthcare outcomes.
We are new and
growing but we’ve already had an impact.
The Alliance for Better Medicine was formed in April of 2005
but already we have had the following impacts:
• Met with California Medi-Cal officials to affirm that they would not
base their decisions solely on the Oregon Drug Effectiveness Review Project
reports.
• We’ve also been monitoring California Public Employees’ Retirement
System (CalPERS) which has also provided funding to the Oregon study and
confirmed that their formulary decisions will consider other information
as well.
•Proposed new research under the California Healthcare Accountability Center to the State of California
• We’ve held a symposium of leaders and published (and are publishing
on the internet) the key findings. Click here to view the executive summary of that
event.
Time commitment required
by members and supporting organizations:
The time commitment required by a supporting organization
is minimal. We encourage all groups to keep the ABM informed of treatment
access issues faced by your patients, and we will keep supporting organizations
informed of our activities. No further participation in the Alliance is required,
although participation in the monthly conference calls is encouraged.
Member organizations are encouraged to participate in monthly
conference calls and required to send a representative to the annual meeting.
Member organizations may be asked to assist the Alliance with media opportunities,
legislative action alerts, identification of speaking opportunities, and
opportunities for publication of articles. The amount of time committed to
the Alliance will vary significantly between organizations, based upon the
individual organization’s available time and resources.
Help the Alliance for Better Medicine ensure quality evidence
based healthcare for all patients—join
the Alliance today.
ABM
Membership Levels
Supporting organizations support the efforts and activities of the Alliance
and are named on Alliance documents as such. Supporting organizations
are not required to participate in all Alliance activities, although participation
in regularly scheduled conference calls is encouraged.
Dues:
$0
Member organizations will have the opportunity to represent the Alliance
in the media and have voting privileges for election of officers. Member
organizations are encouraged to send at least one representative to Alliance
conferences and meetings and to participate in regularly scheduled conference
calls.
Dues: Based upon organization’s
annual budget:
Budget |
Dues |
0 to $500,000 |
$100 |
$500,000 to $1 million |
$200 |
$1 million and above |
$200 per $1 million
up to maximum of $1000 |
Sponsoring organizations receive the benefits of Supporting and Member
organizations and also are assured participation in executive meetings which
determine the Alliance’s priorities and activities.
Dues:
$5000