Bill > S1177

This bill aims to reduce healthcare costs by establishing an evidence-based outreach and education program for physicians, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals who prescribe and dispense drugs, ensuring they are informed about the most cost-effective and therapeutically equivalent prescription drug options. The program will be developed by the department, with input from various stakeholders including insurers and patient advocacy groups, and will utilize face-to-face visits with prescribers, drawing on behavioral science and educational theories, and potentially pharmaceutical industry outreach techniques, to promote informed prescribing. It will specifically target prescribers involved in public health programs like MassHealth, which provides subsidized prescription drug insurance, and will incorporate successful models from other states and academic institutions. The department will also work with MassHealth to access prescription data to monitor effectiveness and will be able to collect fees from private payers and pharmaceutical companies, as well as seek funding from other sources, to support the program, with a portion of funds dedicated to evaluating its cost-savings and effectiveness.