Transparency holding back pharma partnerships, says new report

The ever-evolving healthcare industry means that players must adapt to a systems-orientated approach in order to protect revenues and market share, as well as obtaining regulatory approval for new treatments.

A new report, commissioned by Quintiles, has found that more diverse partnerships between pharma, payers and providers are needed in order to move forward in this time of radical transformation. Yet there has been little movement towards this goal. Only 16 to 19 % of survey respondents said they were "mostly aligned" with other stakeholders, while one-fourth say they are "not very" or "not at all" aligned.

One of the major barriers with collaboration is data transparency. While over 70 % of all stakeholders believe transparency around data sources and information sharing across stakeholder groups is "very important" or "critically important" to the success of an interoperable healthcare system, a large percentage of respondents are unwilling to be transparent.

Approximately 54% of US payers and 51% of US providers said they were willing to be transparent, compared to only 37% of biopharma and just 18 % of EU payers.

"Stakeholders are moving closer to operating as a system in which aligning goals and integrating data will improve their probability of success. Two-thirds of executives expect to forge long-term agreements with payers, and nearly 80 percent of executives anticipate strategic alliances with health care systems in the next three to five years. This promise of an interconnected system will help stakeholders achieve the triple aim—enhancing a patient's health care experience; improving health at the population level; and reducing the cost of health care."

"Transformation to a systems-oriented, value-driven environment is a difficult but necessary step in the evolution of biopharma. The winners will be those who build trust, align incentives, and share common goals to reduce costs and improve patient outcomes."

John Doyle, Dr.P.H., senior vice president and managing director, Consulting at Quintiles.

The report, called The Collaboration Mandate, surveyed over 300 healthcare executives in the US, Italy, France, Germany, Spain and the UK.