Comparative effectiveness research (CER), a prominent component of legislative and regulatory efforts to rationalize the use of health care resources, improve outcomes and constrain the explosive growth of health care spending, is widely perceived as a financial threat by medical technology and pharmaceutical companies. During the current healthcare reform debate, industry has supported stringent limits on payers’ use of CER results in an effort to minimize its impact. But CER also has the potential to define new market opportunities for existing technologies and to open new pathways for the introduction of innovative diagnostics and therapeutics. Opposition to CER initiatives may foreclose significant growth potential for industry.

This presentation explores how CER is likely to be implemented, analyzes the nature of the threat posed by CER to the commercial status quo, and evaluates the opportunities that a robust implementation of a CER program would create.

This audio conference covers:

• How CER will be implemented under current healthcare reform proposals
• How CER priorities will be identified
• The relationship between CER and the ongoing movement towards personalized medicine
• How public and private payers will - and won't - use CER findings
• How much of a threat is CER, and how can that threat be minimized
• How embracing CER can create commercial opportunities for healthcare technology innovators

About the speaker:

Ed Berger, PhD, is a senior healthcare executive with more than 25 years of experience in medical device reimbursement analysis, planning and advocacy. He founded Larchmont Strategic Advisors in 2005 to help life sciences companies deal effectively with the strategic challenges and opportunities posed by the rapidly evolving healthcare regulatory and policy environment.

Building upon the knowledge and experience gained as a member of the management teams of such companies as Fresenius Medical Care, Thermo Cardiosystems and ABIOMED, Dr. Berger has provided reimbursement analysis and strategy development consultation to a variety of clients developing new technologies in fields including mechanical circulatory support, neural monitoring and neuromodulation, gastrointestinal surgery, severe pulmonary dysfunction, nuclear medicine, diagnostic imaging, clinical laboratory testing and personalized medicine.

Who should attend?

• Clinical
• Finance
• IS/IT
• Marketing
• Regulatory Affairs
• Sales/Business Development

*Please note: Each registration covers one line connected to the audio conference. Attendees dialing from separate locations are required to have separate registrations.