Integrated Research Network to analyze payor health policy for chronic pain medications

HealthCore's Integrated Research Network™ is enrolling family physicians, general practitioners, internists, neurologists, rheumatologists, endocrinologists, and pain management specialists in a first-of-its-kind study to analyze payor health policy for chronic pain medications.

"HealthCore, in collaboration with a pharmaceutical sponsor, is working with physicians in the IRN™ to find out if standard pharmaceutical benefit management practices—such as placing prior authorizations on drugs—are working as well for chronic pain patients as they have been perceived to work," said Mark Cziraky, HealthCore vice president, research development and operations.

The IRN, a collaborative research community, brings together physicians, clinical researchers, pharmacists and other health care providers to identify clinical issues for study, provide clinical data for ongoing studies, respond to health surveys, and recruit and enroll patients for post-approval observational studies, including comparative effectiveness studies, in real-world practice settings.

"Critical to this analysis will be data collected from physicians in different disciplinary areas following patients suffering from chronic pain," said Dr. Joseph Singer, HealthCore vice president for clinical affairs. "We believe this will be a landmark study and establish a new benchmark for future evaluations of formulary-related policies."

Physicians may now register for the Integrated Research Network at https://www.healthcoreirn.com//home/registration. The IRN is currently recruiting for the chronic pain study, as well as studies in cardiology and nerve pain. After a physician has registered, the IRN determines potential study matches and issues invitations.

Registered physicians who agree to be involved in a particular study, if qualified, may work with the IRN on an ongoing basis as subject matter experts advising on the development of study designs, the type of clinical data to be collected, and may participate in prospective observational and comparative effectiveness studies. Physicians will be compensated for their involvement in research studies.

HealthCore, the outcomes research subsidiary of WellPoint, Inc., will also work with the IRN to implement registries and studies focusing on product safety, observational and prospective effectiveness research.

When data collection for a study is complete, this information can be combined with HealthCore's administrative claims information, including medical and pharmacy utilization, eligibility and benefit level information, and laboratory results on millions of patients. HealthCore's staff includes many high-level health service researchers who analyze data and produce study results that can be applied in real-word medical practice at the point of care.