Research Agenda

Identifying and Prioritizing Critical Evidence Gaps

Managed Care Pharmacy Research Agenda

The managed care pharmacy research agenda is a call to action for our organizations, and for our stakeholders. Its purpose is to inspire AMCP members, researchers and funding agencies to close knowledge gaps. AMCP and AMCP Foundation commit to generating new findings within these high-priority topics because there is significant potential to improve health care quality — for all.

Research Pillars

The crux of the research agenda is in the following four pillars:

1. Real-world evidence to inform managed care pharmacy decision-making.
2. Value-based models in managed care pharmacy to address total cost of care.
3. Impact of benefit design or utilization management strategies on patient outcomes.
4. Impact of direct patient care services provided by managed care pharmacy on patient outcomes.

These pillars are intentionally broad and expected to evolve as the health care system changes, managed care pharmacy practitioners transform their work, and new technologies and data capabilities become available.

Research Priorities

Given the broad nature of the agenda, and to provide additional guidance on the most pressing gaps in understanding, we have also codified a set of eight research priorities:

• New in 2021: Disparities in designing and delivering health care through managed care pharmacy, while considering diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as social determinants of health.
• New in 2021: Managed care pharmacy programs focused on patient care in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Drugs approved in an expedited manner by FDA as they typically have very limited clinical or economic evidence at the time of launch.
• Drugs or clinical care services whose price and/or expected use would have a significant impact on the managed care pharmacy budget.
• Potential opportunities for outcomes-based contracting.
• Impact of legislative activities and policies.
• Disease states where there are limited or outdated clinical guidelines.
• Medication therapy management and the impact on clinical outcomes across various patient demographics.

“Advancing the Managed Care Pharmacy Research Agenda via Mapping of Research Pillars and Priorities" visually illustrates how these eight priorities cut across the four research pillars.

2021 Research Aims

AMCP and AMCP Foundation are excited to announce research aims focused around two of the priorities.

1) Health Disparities

• Identifying how health care disparities are impacted and reduced through managed care tools and interventions, while maximizing adherence and addressing affordability within disparate populations.

2) Expedited Approvals

• Supporting innovative data collection, and optimizing sequencing in a specific cancer or other disease to inform secondary formulary decisions.

There are three specific aims within the health disparities priority, and another three specific aims within the expedited approvals priority. Additional details will soon become available.

A key strategy in implementing the research agenda is the activation of AMCP Foundation research grants so that we can fund vital questions and enhance health. Contact us to partner!

Additional Resources

• Poster at Virtual AMCP 2021, “Advancing the Managed Care Pharmacy Research Agenda via Mapping of Research Pillars and Priorities," April 2021.
• Webinar, “From Value to Patient Care: Innovative Practices within the Managed Care Pharmacy Research Agenda,” April 2021. Features four cutting-edge case studies with speakers from health plans, PBMs and academia illustrating how their work aligns with a pillar of the research agenda.
• Proceedings manuscript, "Top Evidentiary Gaps in Managed Care Pharmacy: A Research Agenda," April 2020.  Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy 2020 Apr;26(4):375-381.
• Poster at AMCP 2019, "Refining a Research Agenda for Managed Care Pharmacy: A Survey Across Health Care Stakeholders," April 2019.

Acknowledgments

The research agenda was proposed by the AMCP/Foundation Joint Research Committee (JRC). The JRC is charged with promoting and encouraging the creation and dissemination of relevant and credible research and initiatives, in order to advance patient care services in managed care pharmacy. The initial research agenda was developed through two surveys that were conducted sequentially with key opinion leaders, AMCP members and other stakeholders, to understand the evidentiary needs surrounding managed care pharmacy.

The research agenda was approved by the AMCP Board of Directors and AMCP Foundation Board of Trustees.

The 2021 research aims were spearheaded by Dr. Diana Brixner, 2020-21 AMCP Scholar-in-Residence and Professor & Executive Director of the Pharmacotherapy Outcomes Research Center at the University of Utah College of Pharmacy.