Opinion

Following are excerpts from the keynote presentation of Steven C. Anderson, president and CEO of the National Assn. of Chain Drug Stores, at its annual meeting, Palm Beach, FL, Apr. 25.

CMS will be changing reimbursement practices regardless of how healthcare reform plays out

Industry anticipates meaningful guidance from FDA on use of social media

Class-wide opioid REMS will affect four million patients and require cooperation of more than 25 drug manufacturers

More and more parts of the healthcare industry are connecting

The emergence of specialty pharmacies, with fundamental differences from other types of pharmacy providers, warrants the establishment of manufacturer relationships

Drug companies should keep a goal of effective communications as the priority in medical publications

FDA struggles with the new world of social media

New technologies are creating a powerful link between patients and healthcare providers. This Connected Health World has implications for pharmaceutical business practices

Aggressive cost competition and the continuing growth of generic substitution will separate retailers’ interests from manufacturers’

The desire to compare drugs’ efficacy is shifting from a purely medical decision to a financial one

Under the theme of personalized medicine, in vitro diagnostics will play an increasingly important role in new drug entries and new therapies

Better internal collaboration within companies is critical to improving the vital physician-rep relationship

The most basic impulse behind CER is the desire to control healthcare costs. The implications for the biopharma industry could be significant

Are you prepared?

Preventable medical and medication errors should figure more prominently in the current debate on healthcare reform

Private and public sectors can collaborate to achieve meaningful reform

More so than other classes of drugs, making choices about drugs for mental health conditions require everyone around the patient to be well informed

The current economic downturn may fuel the creation of new, more sustainable business models

Could proposed legislation undercut the promise of targeted therapies?

Claims of the death of the pharma sales rep occupation have been greatly exaggerated

Bipartisan group of senators sponsor a revived drug-importation bill