What is it about?
Good governance promotes the confidence of citizens in how governments and organizations interact with them and how decisions are made that impact them. The process that leads to a recommendation for coverage in drug insurance plans should be no exception. We examined how the drug reimbursement recommendation processes of the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health adhere to good governance principles. We found that their compliance with the principles of accountability, transparency, participatory, equity, responsiveness and consensus is poor, especially when compared with the system used in England.
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Why is it important?
Canadians need a national organization for evaluating drugs for reimbursement in the public interest that fully embraces the principles of good governance – one that is publicly accountable, transparent and fair and includes all stakeholders throughout its processes.
Perspectives
"Governance" might be considered a boring topic, but all processes through which societies, governments and organizations make important decisions should adhere to good governance principles to inspire public confidence in the processes and results. As health insurers contend with unmet health needs and increasing numbers of therapeutic drugs and their costs, they look to health technology assessment (HTA) to assist them with estimating the value of new medications. Drug reimbursement recommendation processes based on HTAs should comply with good governance principles to assure all those involved, especially patients and their families as they are the most vulnerable, that recommendations are based on the best available evidence of a drug’s benefit, safety and cost, not cost-containment objectives alone.
Nigel Rawson
Eastlake Research Group
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Do reimbursement recommendation processes used by government drug plans in Canada adhere to good governance principles?, ClinicoEconomics and Outcomes Research, November 2017, Dove Medical Press,
DOI: 10.2147/ceor.s144695.
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