Reality check: Value-based contracts are good for patients

Biopharmaceutical companies are joining stakeholders across the health care system to pursue flexible ways to pay for medicines that focus on results, lower out-of-pocket costs and enable patients to access the right treatments the first time.

According to a posting on the website of US lobby group Pharmaceutical and Research Manufacturers of America by Michelle Drozd, a deputy vice president in the Policy and Research department at PhRMA,recent criticisms of value-based contracts – or results-based contracts – are off base in questioning whether these contracts are having an impact on drug and health care spending. The fact is these payment arrangements underscore how biopharmaceutical companies are willing to put their money where their mouth is when it comes to better value in health care.

Here are four things you need to know about results-based contracts, according to PhRMA: