Humana, Boehringer Ingelheim form partnership to promote population health

Humana and Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals have announced a multi-year collaboration to address key questions regarding treatment and healthcare costs for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cardiovascular disease, and other disease states.

The collaboration will also include input from Humana clinical experts so that the study results can provide key information to the payer. Boehringer Ingelheim will also have access to payer insights through the Humana participation.

“Payers are in need of better information on appropriate treatment among their members for key disease areas, in order to design appropriate and adequate benefit plans,” William Fleming, PharmD, president of Humana Pharmacy Solutions, told Formulary. “Pharmaceutical companies need to better understand real-world application and outcomes of their medications to provide the best targeted care for afflicted patients. The collaboration between Boehringer Ingelheim and Humana is designed to address these needs as healthcare delivery and treatment programs evolve.”

The American Lung Association reports that more than 12 million Americans are living with COPD, as well as an estimated 12 million more undiagnosed cases. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, half of all Americans meet at least 1 of the key risk factors for cardiovascular disease: high blood pressure, high LDL cholesterol, or smoking.

“The partnership is designed to address common questions that managed care and hospital decision-makers are interested in, through well-designed and implemented studies that may be published in peer-reviewed venues,” Dr Fleming said.

According to Dr Fleming, addressing the overall health of the entire population will be critical to providing cost-effective and efficient healthcare in the United States. “This will involve all the players in healthcare delivery,” he said. “We believe that collaborations among payers and health products companies will help to better address the needs of the population and impact the overall outcomes by disease area.”