Value-based payment in pharmaceuticals is a hot topic in health policy these days. We thought it would be good to understand who is most influential in shaping policy and opinion on the topic and why. Fortunately, we talk routinely with the national thought leaders whose opinions matter, so we asked them what they thought.

Reservoir surveyed some of our network of high-level health policy leaders and asked them to weigh-in on who is most influential on the topic of value-based payment in pharmaceuticals. Here’s what they said:

• The trade group representing the biopharmaceutical industry, PhRMA, is overwhelmingly ranked as the most influential organization by respondents. Top of mind, 62% named them as the single most influential organization, followed by 15% who named the think tank organization Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) as the most influential. PhRMA’s influence was perceived as driven from political power, while ICER’s was driven from academic/professional influence.

• When asked to rank individuals, Peter Bach of Memorial Sloan Kettering, Steve Pearson of ICER, and Mark McClellan of the Duke University Margolis Center for Health Policy were in a virtual dead-heat for the most influential. Troy Brennan of CVS Health and Steve Miller of Express Scripts were in 4th and 5th place respectively.

• Specifically looking at payer organizations, America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) topped the list of most influential.

• While PhRMA stayed at the top looking specifically at biopharmaceutical organizations, Pfizer, BIO, Johnson & Johnson, Lilly and Merck also had strong showings.

• Among these high-level health policy leaders, the Washington Post, New York Times, Politico and the Wall Street Journal were most often read for general policy and politics news and Health Affairs, Politico Pulse/Pro, Kaiser Health News, and Washington Post/Health 202 were most often read for health policy-specific news.

To learn more about these results or other insights into who is shaping the health care environment, feel free to contact us.