Health Info Firms Fight Legal Restrictions

In the US, IMS Health, Wolters Kluwer Health (through its subsidiary Source Healthcare Analytics) and Verispan have filed suits against the states of Maine and Vermont to prevent the passing of laws restricting the collection and disclosure of physician prescribing information.

This April, IMS and Verispan won a victory in the courts when they overturned a New Hampshire state 'Prescription Restraint Law' which attempted to ban the collection of this data (www.mrweb.com/drno/news6742.htm ). The new laws would deny the plaintiffs access to information they say is central to improving the quality of care and ensuring patient safety. According to the three firms, the statutes conflict with the national movement towards greater transparency in healthcare practices.

'The new laws in Vermont and Maine will have the same unintended consequences as the one in New Hampshire, blocking vital healthcare information from public view while doing nothing to drive down prescription drug costs or improve the health and well-being of citizens. In fact, it's very likely they will have the opposite effect,' said Randy Frankel, IMS VP External Affairs.

In the state filings, the three companies reiterated their strong support for patient privacy, noting that the prescribing information each collects is anonymised and does not reveal individual patient health records.

Frankel added that the firms believe that the new statutes impair the public and private sectors' ability to measure trends and progress in the healthcare system. He summed up: 'Improving our healthcare system depends on access to more information, not less.'

Prescribing information is used by pharma and biotec companies, medical device manufacturers, providers, government agencies, academia and researchers to monitor and manage the safety of medications, implement drug recalls, communicate with doctors about new treatments and conduct public health studies.

'There is no evidence that restricting access to prescriber-level information will drive down costs,' said Dr Ernst Berndt, Professor of Applied Economics and Co-director of the Center for Biomedical Innovation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 'Public health and safety, as well as patient outcomes, are enhanced when physician prescribing behaviour can be readily monitored and assessed. '

The three firms are on the web at www.imshealth.com , www.wolters-kluwer.com and ww.verispan.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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