On January 31st, ASBM’s Immediate Past Chair Madelaine Feldman, MD, FACR and Executive Director Michael Reilly participated in the 2023 Treatment Choice Summit, held in Washington, DC.
Dr. Feldman moderated the first panel discussion, Patient and Provider Perspectives on the Impact of Treatment Choice. The purpose of the discussion was to identify barriers to treatment choice and how these impact patients, their out-of-pocket costs, and the patient-physician relationship.
Mr. Reilly appeared on a second panel, entitled Recent Policy Initiatives to Protect Treatment Choice, which examined ways in which effective advocacy can protect treatment choice. Mr. Reilly emphasized the importance to physicians of maintaining control over treatment choice, citing ASBM’s extensive research into physician perspectives on non-medical switching:“ASBM has surveyed physicians around the world and we have consistently seen that while they are confident in biosimilars they strongly believe that treatment decisions should be made by physicians in consultation with the patient – not by a third party for cost reasons.”
A 2021 ASBM survey of 401 U.S. physicians found that the majority (58%) are uncomfortable with a switch initiated by a third-party for non-medical reasons. 89% maintain that they, with their patients, should have sole control over treatment choices; and 67% consider it “very important” or “critical” that they are able to prevent a substitution they feel is inappropriate.
Read a whitepaper on the U.S. physician survey here.
